Health and Fitness Talk ? GAPS ? Bridging Diet and Psychology

by Francesca Orlando, Nutritional Therapy Practitioner

If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with an ASD, bi-polar disorder, a learning disability, or an autoimmune condition, or if you suffer from digestive distress, please know that there is hope for you yet.?Thousands of people have healed thanks to the GAPS protocol.

The GAPS protocol was created by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride. Dr. Natasha, as her patients call her, is a world-renowned Russian neurologist and neurosurgeon, practicing in the UK.?When her son was diagnosed with autism, Dr. Natasha decided to study intensively the condition, its causes and treatment option.?It was during her quest to heal her son, that Dr. Campbell-McBride developed her theories on the relationship between nutrition and neurological disorders. This led to her completing a second Postgraduate Degree in Human Nutrition at Sheffield University, UK.?After treating her son successfully with nutritional therapy, Dr. Natasha decided to specialize in a nutritional approach to autism, and she is now recognized as one of the world?s leading experts in treating people affected by learning disabilities, mental disorders, as well as digestive and immune disorders.

Her book Gut And Psychology Syndrome. Natural Treatment Of Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Depression And Schizophrenia was published in 2004. In her first book, Dr. Natasha explores the connection between the body and the brain, specifically the connection between the state of the gut and the rest of the body.

As, Hippocrates, the father of medicine put it ? ?All disease begins in the gut.??The book explains how an unhealthy gut and imbalanced gut flora lead to autoimmune disease, mood disorders, learning disabilities, and a myriad of other health issues.

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), ?about 1 in 88 children has been identified with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). About 1 in 6 children in the U.S. had a developmental disability in 2006-2008, ranging from mild disabilities such as speech and language impairments to serious developmental disabilities, such as intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy, and autism.? The CDC also states that 4 out of 100 children have a food allergy, and children with food allergies are more prone to develop asthma and other allergic conditions. To this scenario, we add the hundreds of thousands of children suffering from delayed food sensitivities and intolerances.

Never in the history of mankind, have our children had such a precarious state of health. Each generation is weaker than the one before. As a species, we are producing weaker children.

We believe that the weak link resides in our gut, and mainly in our gut flora. The human body carries around 4 to 6 pounds of bacteria. We have more organisms living within us than we have cells in our body. It is a specialized, organized eco system, and unfortunately when the health of our gut flora is compromised, so is ours.

Dr. Natasha Campell-McBride

Our gut flora is the right arm of our immunity; it synthesizes vitamins; it aids digestion and elimination; it detoxifies the body. Our beneficial gut flora also keeps pathogenic microorganisms in check; it is keep the intestinal tract clean; it fuels the cells of the colon; and much more.

A newborn?s gut is sterile. As the baby passes through the birth canal, he swallows his first mouthful of flora. Whatever resides in mom?s vaginal tract, will colonize the baby?s gut.?Dr. Natasha shows us how dysbiosis and candidiasis are passed on from generation to generation. She also shows how, with every generation, things get worse.

The main disruptors of gut flora are antibiotics, the pill and other medication, bottle-feeding, chlorinated water, stress, alcohol, pollutants, caffeine, diet. Also, unhealthy foods such as refined carbohydrates, sugar and other man-made concoctions ferment, feeding pathogenic microorganisms, leaving the healthy flora starved and unable to fight back.

This imbalance in gut flora also affects the enterocytes of the small intestine, making them weaker and weaker and causing the lining of the gut to become leaky. When we develop leaky gut undigested food particles are allowed through the gut lining into the bloodstream in inappropriate sizes. This further compromises the immune system and leaves the body malnourished.

Pathogenic microorganisms also produce toxins that flow from the gut into the bloodstream and get shuttled around the body. These toxins can settle in the muscle (the person may develop different forms of arthritis), the skin (skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis may develop), and the brain. When toxins reach the brain they can cause seizures, autistic behavior, migraine headaches, mental and mood disorders, learning disabilities, etc.

The goal of the GAPS protocol is to reestablish the optimal gut ecology, heal and seal the gut lining, and gently detoxify the body.?The protocol is composed of a diet, a supplemental regimen and a detoxification program.

The diet removes all processed foods; all foods that feed pathogenic microorganisms, as well as foods that cannot be broken down by damaged enterocytes. It is a nutrient dense, whole foods diet that provides the building blocks necessary to rebuild and repair the entire body from the cell up. It is based on healing foods like bone broths, fermented vegetables and dairy products, with plenty of vegetables, proteins and animal fats.

Everyone suffering from one a GAPS condition should take a therapeutic probiotic, and EPA and DHA from fish oil. The rest of supplemental regimen needs to be tailored on the individual taking into consideration biochemical make-up, condition and level of disfunction, nutritional deficiencies, digestive dysfunction, etc.

The detoxification part of program is targeted at reducing the toxic load. It does so on several front: elimination of toxins, support to the organs of detoxification, reduction of toxic exposure.

It takes time, planning and dedication to implement GAPS. The protocol is strict and it is labor intensive. But the results are short of amazing. As a Certified GAPS Practitioner I have seen so many clients heal and regain their life back. I have seen children and families blessed with a second chance. If you or a loved one is suffering from ASD, bi-polar disorder, a learning disability, or an autoimmune condition, please get a copy of Gut And Psychology Syndrome and visit www.gaps.me.

If you would like to schedule a GAPS consultation you can reach me at Francesca@healthfullivingsd.com

Francesca Orlando is a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner in private practice in San Diego, CA. She is a certified GAPS practitioner and a Lead Instructor for the Nutritional Therapy Association Inc.?Her expertise in traditional diets comes from a family background in biodynamic farming, wine making and the Slow Food movement. She is a follower of the works of Dr. Westin A. Price and Dr. Francis M. Pottenger, Jr. and believes that food is medicine and that through proper nutrition the deleterious effects of the standard American diet can be reversed. You can reach her with questions or comments at francesca@healthfulliving.com, or visit her Website, www.healthfullivingsd.com.

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Source: http://www.healthandfitnesstalk.com/gaps-bridging-diet-and-psychology/

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Honeymoon Prank Leaves Newlyweds With Bright Pink House (PHOTO)

After a relaxing honeymoon, a pair of English newlyweds returned home on Sunday and discovered a shocking surprise: their house had been painted pink!

The BBC tweeted this photo Tuesday of Steve and Hayley O'Rourke's home, which Steve's brother, Russell, painted in the style of Mr. Blobby, a pink polka-dotted character from the 1990's British TV show "Noel's House Party."

The BBC reported that Russell painted the house as revenge: while Russell was on his honeymoon six years ago, Steve, a builder, built a brick wall in the middle of Russell's driveway.

Pranking honeymooning newlyweds isn't as uncommon as you might think. One couple's friends filled their house with balloons while they were away in 2011!

If you're thinking of pranking your newlywed friends, check out these tips.

Click through the slideshow below to see HuffPost readers' worst wedding disasters.

Keep in touch! Check out HuffPost Weddings on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Earlier on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/21/honeymoon-prank_n_3315025.html

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New method for producing clean hydrogen

Public release date: 21-May-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Richard Merritt
richard.merritt@duke.edu
919-660-8414
Duke University

DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University engineers have developed a novel method for producing clean hydrogen, which could prove essential to weaning society off of fossil fuels and their environmental implications.

While hydrogen is ubiquitous in the environment, producing and collecting molecular hydrogen for transportation and industrial uses is expensive and complicated. Just as importantly, a byproduct of most current methods of producing hydrogen is carbon monoxide, which is toxic to humans and animals.

The Duke engineers, using a new catalytic approach, have shown in the laboratory that they can reduce carbon monoxide levels to nearly zero in the presence of hydrogen and the harmless byproducts of carbon dioxide and water. They also demonstrated that they could produce hydrogen by reforming fuel at much lower temperatures than conventional methods, which makes it a more practical option.

Catalysts are agents added to promote chemical reactions. In this case, the catalysts were nanoparticle combinations of gold and iron oxide (rust), but not in the traditional sense. Current methods depend on gold nanoparticles' ability to drive the process as the sole catalyst, while the Duke researchers made both the iron oxide and the gold the focus of the catalytic process.

The study appears online in the Journal of Catalysis, viewable at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021951712004204.

"Our ultimate goal is to be able to produce hydrogen for use in fuel cells," said Titilayo "Titi" Shodiya, a graduate student working in the laboratory of senior researcher Nico Hotz, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering. "Everyone is interested in sustainable and non-polluting ways of producing useful energy without fossil fuels," said Shodiya, the paper's first author.

Fuel cells produce electricity through chemical reactions, most commonly involving hydrogen. Also, many industrial processes require hydrogen as a chemical reagent and vehicles are beginning to use hydrogen as a primary fuel source.

"We were able through our system to consistently produce hydrogen with less than 0.002 percent (20 parts per million) of carbon monoxide," Shodiya said.

The Duke researchers achieved these levels by switching the recipe for the nanoparticles used as catalysts for the reactions to oxidize carbon monoxide in hydrogen-rich gases. Traditional methods of cleaning hydrogen, which are not nearly as efficient as this new approach, also involve gold-iron oxide nanoparticles as the catalyst, the researchers said.

"It had been assumed that the iron oxide nanoparticles were only 'scaffolds' holding the gold nanoparticles together, and that the gold was responsible for the chemical reactions," Sodiya said. "However, we found that increasing the surface area of the iron oxide dramatically increased the catalytic activity of the gold."

One of the newest approaches to producing renewable energy is the use of biomass-derived alcohol-based sources, such as methanol. When methanol is treated with steam, or reformed, it creates a hydrogen-rich mixture that can be used in fuel cells.

"The main problem with this approach is that it also produces carbon monoxide, which is not only toxic to life, but also quickly damages the catalyst on fuel cell membranes that are crucial to the functioning of a fuel cell," Hotz said. "It doesn't take much carbon monoxide to ruin these membranes."

The researchers ran the reaction for more than 200 hours and found no reduction in the ability of the catalyst to reduce the amount of carbon monoxide in the hydrogen gas.

"The mechanism for this is not exactly understood yet. However, while current thinking is that the size of the gold particles is key, we believe the emphasis of further research should focus on iron oxide's role in the process," Shodiya said.

###

The Duke team's research was supported by the California Energy Commission and the Oak Ridge Associated Universities. Duke postdoctoral associates Oliver Schmidt and Wen Peng were also part of the research team.

Citation: "Novel nano-scale Au/alpha-Fe2O3 catalyst for the preferential oxidation of CO in biofuel reformate gas," Titilayo Shodiya, et. al, Journal of Catalysis, DOI 10.1016/j.cat.2012.12.027

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 21-May-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Richard Merritt
richard.merritt@duke.edu
919-660-8414
Duke University

DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University engineers have developed a novel method for producing clean hydrogen, which could prove essential to weaning society off of fossil fuels and their environmental implications.

While hydrogen is ubiquitous in the environment, producing and collecting molecular hydrogen for transportation and industrial uses is expensive and complicated. Just as importantly, a byproduct of most current methods of producing hydrogen is carbon monoxide, which is toxic to humans and animals.

The Duke engineers, using a new catalytic approach, have shown in the laboratory that they can reduce carbon monoxide levels to nearly zero in the presence of hydrogen and the harmless byproducts of carbon dioxide and water. They also demonstrated that they could produce hydrogen by reforming fuel at much lower temperatures than conventional methods, which makes it a more practical option.

Catalysts are agents added to promote chemical reactions. In this case, the catalysts were nanoparticle combinations of gold and iron oxide (rust), but not in the traditional sense. Current methods depend on gold nanoparticles' ability to drive the process as the sole catalyst, while the Duke researchers made both the iron oxide and the gold the focus of the catalytic process.

The study appears online in the Journal of Catalysis, viewable at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021951712004204.

"Our ultimate goal is to be able to produce hydrogen for use in fuel cells," said Titilayo "Titi" Shodiya, a graduate student working in the laboratory of senior researcher Nico Hotz, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering. "Everyone is interested in sustainable and non-polluting ways of producing useful energy without fossil fuels," said Shodiya, the paper's first author.

Fuel cells produce electricity through chemical reactions, most commonly involving hydrogen. Also, many industrial processes require hydrogen as a chemical reagent and vehicles are beginning to use hydrogen as a primary fuel source.

"We were able through our system to consistently produce hydrogen with less than 0.002 percent (20 parts per million) of carbon monoxide," Shodiya said.

The Duke researchers achieved these levels by switching the recipe for the nanoparticles used as catalysts for the reactions to oxidize carbon monoxide in hydrogen-rich gases. Traditional methods of cleaning hydrogen, which are not nearly as efficient as this new approach, also involve gold-iron oxide nanoparticles as the catalyst, the researchers said.

"It had been assumed that the iron oxide nanoparticles were only 'scaffolds' holding the gold nanoparticles together, and that the gold was responsible for the chemical reactions," Sodiya said. "However, we found that increasing the surface area of the iron oxide dramatically increased the catalytic activity of the gold."

One of the newest approaches to producing renewable energy is the use of biomass-derived alcohol-based sources, such as methanol. When methanol is treated with steam, or reformed, it creates a hydrogen-rich mixture that can be used in fuel cells.

"The main problem with this approach is that it also produces carbon monoxide, which is not only toxic to life, but also quickly damages the catalyst on fuel cell membranes that are crucial to the functioning of a fuel cell," Hotz said. "It doesn't take much carbon monoxide to ruin these membranes."

The researchers ran the reaction for more than 200 hours and found no reduction in the ability of the catalyst to reduce the amount of carbon monoxide in the hydrogen gas.

"The mechanism for this is not exactly understood yet. However, while current thinking is that the size of the gold particles is key, we believe the emphasis of further research should focus on iron oxide's role in the process," Shodiya said.

###

The Duke team's research was supported by the California Energy Commission and the Oak Ridge Associated Universities. Duke postdoctoral associates Oliver Schmidt and Wen Peng were also part of the research team.

Citation: "Novel nano-scale Au/alpha-Fe2O3 catalyst for the preferential oxidation of CO in biofuel reformate gas," Titilayo Shodiya, et. al, Journal of Catalysis, DOI 10.1016/j.cat.2012.12.027

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-05/du-nmf052113.php

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Tea party looks to take advantage of moment

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Is the tea party getting its groove back? Shouts of vindication from around the country suggest the movement's leaders certainly think so.

They say the IRS acknowledgement that it had targeted their groups for extra scrutiny ? a claim that tea party activists had made for years ? is helping pump new energy into the coalition. And they are trying to use that development, along with the ongoing controversy over the Benghazi, Libya, terrorist attacks and the Justice Department's secret seizure of journalists' phone records, to recruit new activists incensed about government overreach.

"This is the defining moment to say 'I told you so,' " said Katrina Pierson, a Dallas-based tea party leader, who traveled to Washington last week as the three political headaches for President Barack Obama unfolded.

Luke Rogonjich, a tea party leader in Phoenix, called the trio of controversies a powerful confluence that bolsters the GOP's case against big government. "Suddenly, there are a lot of things pressing on the dam," said Rogonjich.

It's unclear whether a movement made up of disparate grassroots groups with no central body can take advantage of the moment and leverage it to grow stronger after a sub-par showing in last fall's election had called into question the movement's lasting impact. Republicans and Democrats alike say the tea party runs the risk of going too far in its criticism, which could once again open the door to Democratic efforts to paint it as an extreme arm of the GOP.

"Never underestimate the tea party's ability to overplay its hand," said Democratic strategist Mo Elleithee. "Just because there is universal agreement that the IRS went too far, that should not be misread as acceptance of the tea party's ideology of anger."

At the very least, furor over the IRS in particular is giving the tea party more visibility than it has had in months, and it's providing a new rallying cry for tea party organizers starting to plot how to influence the 2014 congressional elections.

The tax-agency scandal ? it has led to the acting IRS commissioner's ouster, a criminal investigation and Capitol Hill hearings ? seems to validate the tea party's long-held belief among supporters that government was trampling on them specifically, a claim dismissed by ousted commissioner Steven T. Miller. He has called the targeting "a mistake and not an act of partisanship."

Nevertheless, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., elected in 2010 with tea party backing, said the IRS scandal "confirms many of the feelings that led to the tea party movement in the first place."

"What's happened here is a reminder of, this is what happens when you expand government," he said in an interview with The Associated Press. "That and the disaster that is Obamacare is going to be a real catalyst in 2014 and beyond."

Tea party activists hope they also can drive support ahead of the elections by stoking widespread suspicions that the Obama administration and State Department are hiding key details about the September 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans. The seizure of Associated Press phone records also plays into their argument that government is too intrusive.

Tea party activists have tried to take advantage of the issues that have put some of their central tenets ? limited government and civil liberties ? in the spotlight.

From around the country last week, they headed Washington to hold a news conference on the Capitol steps and meet with members of Congress. Those who stayed home jammed House and Senate phone lines with calls urging congressional action as the IRS saga unfolded. An email from Teaparty.org that was sent to activists proclaimed: "We've worked so hard these past few years and it's paying off! We're witnessing the unraveling of a presidency at an unprecedented rate."

Freedomworks, a national tea party group, spent the week circulating petitions for congressional hearings and encouraging leaders of local groups who believe they have been targeted by the IRS to include their story on a national database to build the case against the agency.

"Perhaps all this attention will break something loose," said Jim Chiodo, an activist from Holland, Mich.

It wasn't long ago that the tea party was the hot new political kid on the block, bursting onto the national scene during the contentious summer debate over health care in 2009. Over the next few years, the loosely affiliated conservatives and civil libertarians would leave their mark on the 2010 elections by helping Republican candidates win Senate races in Florida, Kentucky, Utah and Wisconsin and scores of House races.

Those victories resulted in House and Senate Republican caucuses getting pushed to the right in legislative battles, making life difficult for Obama and his Democrats in an era of divided government.

But the movement's success was muted in 2012 when Republicans nominated the establishment-backed Mitt Romney for president, though he did little to inspire the tea party. He lost, and so did many tea party-backed House and Senate candidates.

Now, tea party activists say they are emboldened and won't be afraid to recruit candidates to run in Republican primaries against incumbents who appear to go easy on the Obama administration, particularly in light of the IRS scandal.

"It's one of those issues we should just raise hell about," said Nashville Tea Party leader Ben Cunningham.

Some say they're now even more suspicious of government than before.

"I personally feel so vindicated," said Mark Falzon, a New Jersey tea party leader. But he added: "What's scaring me now is what's going on below the water line that we're not seeing."

Republicans say that the tea party will have an opportunity come 2014 to make its mark again, particularly with Obama not at the top of the ticket. Also, they say that with Obama's health care law going into effect and with the slew of latest controversies, they now have concrete issues to point to when arguing against government overreach.

"Suddenly, this is a very real demonstration of too much power ceded to government bureaucrats," said Matt Kibbe, president of Freedomworks. "This is no longer theoretical."

___

Associated Press writers Steve Peoples in Boston and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Follow Thomas Beaumont on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Tom_Beaumont

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tea-party-looks-advantage-moment-131144429.html

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Richard DeCoatsworth, Former Cop, Once Hailed As Hero Now Faces Rape Charges

PHILADELPHIA ? A former Philadelphia police officer once hailed as a hero and given a seat next to the first lady at a speech by President Obama has been arrested and charged with rape and other crimes.

Authorities allege that former officer Richard DeCoatsworth left a party with two females early Thursday and took them to another location, where they allege that he produced a handgun and "forced the two females to engage in the use of narcotics and sexual acts."

A police spokeswoman said the two called police after he left, and 27-year-old DeCoatsworth was later arrested. According to court records, DeCoatsworth was arraigned Saturday night on charges including rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, trafficking of persons, false imprisonment and aggravated assault. His bail was set at $60 million.

DeCoatsworth was hailed as a hero after he was shot in the face during a traffic stop in September 2007 but still managed to chase after his attacker, who was later sentenced to 36 to 72 years in prison.

DeCoatsworth was invited by Vice President Joe Biden to attend the president's televised February 2009 address to Congress and sat with first lady Michelle Obama. He said he didn't know why he had been singled out, but being in the presence of the nation's leaders was an honor "that I will keep with me for the rest of my life."

WCAU-TV, which first reported his arrest, said DeCoatsworth retired from the department on disability in December 2011.

Police said no other information on the alleged attack would be released Saturday to protect the victims and the integrity of the ongoing investigation. Authorities declined to say give even general locations for the party and alleged crime scene and also wouldn't say when DeCoatsworth was arrested.

A listed number for DeCoatsworth has been disconnected and it was unclear whether he had an attorney.

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey told a Philadelphia Daily News columnist in February of last year that he believed he had made a mistake in granting the former officer's request to go back to work too soon after he was shot.

"God bless him for still wanting to get out there and do police work, but did I act in his best interest? In hindsight, I would say probably not," Ramsey told columnist Sty Bykofsky.

Also on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/19/richard-decoatsworth-cop-hero-rape_n_3302163.html

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Computer penetration: Create your tomorrow now, Intel charges ...

By Prince Osuagwu

Intel Corporation last week charged the University of Lagos, UNILAG students to learn how to create their tomorrow, today by adopting the usage of computer technology in every aspect of their academic and social activities.

The chip technology manufacturer, challenged the students as it took its youth market based campaign, ?Create Your Tomorrow? project to the institution at the weekend.

The campaign seeks to help the target market especially the new generation of tech-savvy students currently in, and entering institutions of learning to unlock their innate potentials through the use of technology.

The Create Your Tomorrow Campaign also seeks to push information technology as a tool that can be used as an asset, rather than as an obstacle to achieving its intended purpose.

Intel believes that when the usage of PC Technology is deepened among students, it would result into tremendous enhancement of quality of life and living in the society. The company?s Country Manager, Mr Olubunmi Ekundare, said his company designed the campaign to reinforce commitment as sponsors of tomorrow.

He also contended that the initiative would mark Intel out as having exposed the potentials of technology in Nigeria and in Africa as a whole

For him,? today?s students possess unprecedented levels of skill with information technology; they think about and use technology very differently from students of the past era. They love teamwork, experiential activities and the use of technology.? He said.

Ekundare added that ?for us at Intel, championing the cause of technology in Nigeria, Africa and the world is at the heart of our business and this has informed our engagements from inception till date. Intel, more than being interested in propagating the gospel of technology, is interested in the quality it brings to life if properly employed. The campaign will therefore focus on the use of the several unknown benefits that technology provides.?

Activities to mark the Create Your Future campaign included? one-day forum on the campus of the University of Lagos as well as entertaining interactive sessions with Nigerian pop-star, Banky W.

Intel also sponsored three-day internationally certified Technology and Entrepreneurship Training and participants awarded international certification upon successful completion.

The campaign also offered discounts on PC purchases from Intel-powered PC retailers, free HP printers with every HP PC purchase, shopping vouchers, educational and empowerment initiatives, as well as raffle draws.

Comments are moderated. Please keep them clean and brief.

Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/05/computer-penetration-create-your-tomorrow-now-intel-charges-unilag-students/

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The Longform Guide to Elephants

?Elephants are pictured in Addo National Park on February 9, 2013 in Addo, South Africa.

Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images

Every weekend, Longform shares a collection of great stories from its archive with Slate. For daily picks of new and classic nonfiction, check out Longform or follow @longform on Twitter. Have an iPad? Download Longform?s app to read the latest picks, plus features from dozens of other magazines, including Slate.

They ?speak? through their feet, bury their dead and some can even draw ? perhaps more than any other creature, elephants have captivated our sense of wonder and fostered curiosity about our own relationship to the animal world. Here are six stories on the great pachyderms.

The Day They Hanged an Elephant in East Tennessee
Joan Vannorsdall Schroeder ? Blue Ridge Country ? May 1997

In 1916, a down-on-its-luck traveling circus hung its star elephant. The crime? Murder.

?Rumor and exaggeration swarmed about Mary like flies. She was worth a small fortune: $20,000, Charlie Sparks claimed. She was dangerous, having killed two men, or was it eight, or 18?

?She was Charlie Sparks' favorite, his cash cow, his claim to circus fame. She was the leader of his small band of elephants, an exotic crowd-pleaser, an unpredictable giant.?

An Elephant Crackup?
Charles Siebert ? New York Times ? October 2006

The similarities between the reactions of elephants and humans to childhood trauma.

?As a result of such social upheaval, calves are now being born to and raised by ever younger and inexperienced mothers. Young orphaned elephants, meanwhile, that have witnessed the death of a parent at the hands of poachers are coming of age in the absence of the support system that defines traditional elephant life. ?The loss of elephant elders,? Bradshaw told me, ?and the traumatic experience of witnessing the massacres of their family, impairs normal brain and behavior development in young elephants.?

?What Bradshaw and her colleagues describe would seem to be an extreme form of anthropocentric conjecture if the evidence that they?ve compiled from various elephant researchers, even on the strictly observational level, weren?t so compelling. The elephants of decimated herds, especially orphans who?ve watched the death of their parents and elders from poaching and culling, exhibit behavior typically associated with post-traumatic stress disorder and other trauma-related disorders in humans: abnormal startle response, unpredictable asocial behavior, inattentive mothering and hyperaggression. Studies of the various assaults on the rhinos in South Africa, meanwhile, have determined that the perpetrators were in all cases adolescent males that had witnessed their families being shot down in cullings. It was common for these elephants to have been tethered to the bodies of their dead and dying relatives until they could be rounded up for translocation to, as Bradshaw and Schore describe them, ?locales lacking traditional social hierarchy of older bulls and intact natal family structures.??

Shooting an Elephant
George Orwell ? New Writing ? May 1936

An imperialism, doubt, and a day in colonial Burma.

?And suddenly I realized that I should have to shoot the elephant after all. The people expected it of me and I had got to do it; I could feel their two thousand wills pressing me forward, irresistibly. And it was at this moment, as I stood there with the rifle in my hands, that I first grasped the hollowness, the futility of the white man's dominion in the East. Here was I, the white man with his gun, standing in front of the unarmed native crowd ? seemingly the leading actor of the piece; but in reality I was only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind. I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys. He becomes a sort of hollow, posing dummy, the conventionalized figure of a sahib.?

Is it ever OK for zoos to display elephants? And, if not, what should keepers do with them?

?The zoo was left with only three aging elephants?the minimum number recommended for the highly social creatures under zoo industry standards?and a game-changing dilemma. Management would have to decide whether to invest tens of millions of dollars into expanding the elephant exhibit, or find a new home for Iringa, Thika and Toka.

?Since the early days of the animals-on-display business, when the prospect of a zoo without an elephant was unimaginable, a majority of the world?s leading pachyderm experts and a growing number of industry professionals have come to believe most zoos do not meet the biological needs of elephants, particularly in colder climates where they are forced to remain in small, indoor spaces for weeks at a time.?

Do Elephants Have Souls?
Caitrin Nicol ? New Atlantis ? Winter/Spring 2013

Nearly everything you could want to know about elephants, plus the metaphysical questions the animals raise about our own consciousness.

?Even supposing that the elephants were our equals in intelligence, their life differs from ours so fundamentally that trying to infer their perspective from our own experience is bound to miss the mark in many ways. For one thing, as a rule elephants have poor vision?but their sense of smell is exquisite, revealing a whole olfactory landscape that we are contentedly closed off to. Also, they do not fall romantically in love (that we know of; that their behavior indicates). Think how many other aspects of our lives are profoundly influenced by good sight and deep eros, and ask yourself what might loom equally large in an elephant's world that we ourselves would have very little grasp of. And of course there are a variety of other differences?where they live, how they live, the fact that from birth to death a female (unless something has gone wrong) will never be alone and after a certain point a male mostly will. How might these things shape a psyche??

Riding rescued elephants through a wildlife park.

?We set out in a long and straggling file, heading across the swamp water, looking for animals. The mahout seated on the elephant?s neck talked much of the time to the elephant, urging it onward, cautioning it, mildly scolding it when?as frequently happened?the elephant took a hunger-determined detour from the route and, tearing at bunches of palm leaves, decided to eat a whole tree. We were aimed in a general direction, a long file of elephants, great and small, some of them with humans on their backs, and we saw impala and zebra and wart hogs, and a profusion of birds; but the strongest impression I had of this outing was of a herd of elephants, idly grazing.?

Have a favorite piece that we missed? Leave the link in the comments or tweet it to @longform. For more great writing, check out Longform?s complete archive.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=a87e95ab913c39084fb00eb7f63b43c3

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Cast AR hands-on with Jeri Ellsworth at Maker Faire 2013 (update: video interview)

When Valve's first hardware hire, Jeri Ellsworth, tweeted back in February that she was fired from the company, we were disappointed but also intrigued by what she meant by "time for new exciting projects." Well we finally saw what she's been up to here at at Maker Faire 2013. It's called Cast AR, and it's a pair of 3D augmented-reality glasses that she and former Valve programmer Rick Johnson were working on at Valve before they left.

The model we saw is still in the early prototype stages, but the concepts are already in place. Perched atop a pair of active shutter glasses are a couple of miniature LCD projectors, which bounce images from a connected computer onto a special reflective surface at a 120Hz refresh rate. A camera module sits on the eyewear's bridge and monitors an array of infrared LEDs embedded in the reflective surface. This allows for quick and accurate head tracking. Join us after the break for our impressions and our video interview with Jeri Ellsworth.

Gallery: Cast AR hands-on at Maker Faire 2013

Filed under: Gaming, Wearables

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/18/cast-ar-hands-on-with-jeri-ellsworth-at-maker-faire-2013/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Kree Harrison: So Happy for Candice Glover!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/05/kree-harrison-so-happy-for-candice-glover/

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For GOP, scandals could be an electoral plus - or minus (cbsnews)

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Obama: ?No magic formula? to end Syria?s civil war

President Barack Obama holds a news conference with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House on May??President Barack Obama said on Thursday he reserves the right to step up American military and diplomatic efforts to push out Syria?s Bashar Assad, but warned he has ?no magic formula? to end that country?s civil war. Speaking at a joint press conference in the White House Rose Garden with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Obama also played down the prospects of unilateral U.S. action.

?There are a whole range of options that the United States is already engaged in, and I preserve the options of taking additional steps?both diplomatic and military,? Obama said.

But ?there?s no magic formula for dealing with an extraordinarily violent and difficult situation like Syria?s,? he continued. ?If there was, I think the prime minister and I would have already acted on it and it would already be finished.?

Obama is under pressure from Congress to escalate America?s role in Syria, where fighting has claimed an estimated 70,000 lives. Sens. Robert Menendez and Bob Corker, the top Democrat and Republican, respectively, on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, introduced legislation on Wednesday encouraging the White House to arm rebels fighting to topple Assad.

The pressure has increased ever since the White House disclosed that U.S. intelligence had evidence that Assad used chemical weapons, apparently crossing a ?red line? Obama set last year. But the president has taken a cautious approach to ramping up America?s participation. On Thursday, he said that "the sooner the better" when it comes to Assad losing power?while playing down prospects for unilateral American action.

"It is very much my hope to continue to work with all the various parties involved, including Turkey, to find a solution that brings peace to Syria, stabilizes the region, stabilizes those chemical weapons," Obama said. "But it?s not going to be something that the United States does by itself. And I don?t think anybody in the region, including the prime minister, would think that U.S. unilateral actions in and of themselves would bring about a better outcome inside of Syria."

And he defended his refusal to respond militarily to the apparent use of chemical weapons.

"With respect to what I've said in the past around red lines: What I've said is that the use of chemical weapons are something that the civilized world has recognized should be out of bounds," Obama said. "And as we gather more evidence and work together, my intention is to make sure that we're presenting everything that we know to the international community as an additional reason, an additional mechanism, for the international community to put all the pressure that they can on the Assad regime, and to work with the opposition to bring about that political transition."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-no-magic-formula-end-syria-civil-war-200242390.html

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Boston Symphony Orchestra names new music director

BOSTON (AP) ? Andris (AHN'-driss) Nelsons has been named music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

The chairman of the 132-year-old orchestra's trustees made the announcement Thursday.

The 34-year-old Nelsons, a native of Latvia, said in a statement that he is "deeply honored and touched" by the appointment and plans to make his first appearance in Boston as the orchestra's 15th music director in June.

Trustees Chairman Ted Kelly says Nelsons' "unique creativity and visionary instincts will bring a remarkable inspiration" to the orchestra.

Nelsons has earned distinction on both the opera and concert podiums, including those of the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Metropolitan Opera and Vienna State Opera.

James Levine was the orchestra's previous music director. He left in 2011.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/boston-symphony-orchestra-names-music-director-161255278.html

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Trump: 'Celeb Apprentice' finale will get 'nasty'

TV

Ashley Majeski TODAY contributor

24 minutes ago

Douglas Gorenstein/NBC

Donald Trump will decide between the musician and the magician on Sunday's finale.

This season of "Celebrity Apprentice" has certainly seen its fair share of friction between cast members, from Trace Adkins' battle with Marilu Henner to Gary Busey turning on his teammates in the boardroom. While the show's final two contestants, Adkins and magician Penn Jillette, may be good pals off-camera, Donald Trump says that we can expect a little friendly feuding on Sunday's finale.

"We have a tremendous cast of celebrities that each of (the finalists) have brought with them," Trump said during a conference call with the press Thursday. "It?s a very tough group of people.The game is played very hard, it?s a little bit nasty in a couple of cases but overall I think it?s going to be great television."

Trump told reporters that he has no clue who he will choose to hire during Sunday's live finale.

"Sometime I know and sometimes I don?t," he said. "I will tell you honestly, in this case, I don?t. A lot of times I will have a pretty good idea as to who it?s going to be. I?ll give you an example, when Bret (Michaels) won. They flew him here in an ambulatory plane. He was almost dead three days before, with the heart and the whole thing. (Michaels had a stroke that was later tied to a hole in his heart.) He could barely walk on the stage. Honestly, I think if I hadn?t chosen him I would have been run out of town!"

Although "Celebrity Apprentice" is now in its 13th season, Trump said has no trouble finding celebrities that are willing to risk facing him in the boardroom.

"Casting the first time was hard because nobody knew what to expect after we went to the celebrity concept," he said. "After that, it became really easy to get people to sign on. It really has been good for people's careers."

Trump added that celebrities want to be a part of his show because it doesn't require them to do anything they normally wouldn't do, unlike those other star-based reality shows.

"The nice thing is that they don?t have to dance and they don?t have to do things that maybe aren?t in their comfort zones but they get this tremendous popularity if they have what it takes," Trump said. "So it?s easy to cast, actually."

Although they won't be dancing, Jillette and Adkins said they will be putting their talents to use on Sunday's finale.

"Trace is going to do a song, and I?m going to play bass with him," Jillette said. "And I?m going to do some magic with Teller, so besides the 'Celebrity Apprentice' there will also be magic and music."

While it may seem odd that Jillette will join his competitor Adkins in a jam session on the show, Trump said it's because the final two share a friendship rarely seen in the final two.

"One thing that?s a little bit different is that these guys genuinely like each other," he said. "Usually we have people that get into the finals that do not like each other. I usually like that better, by the way. These two people really like each other, but it?s still great television."

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/donald-trump-celebrity-apprentice-finale-will-get-little-bit-nasty-1C9960482

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Cooling ocean temperature could buy more time for coral reefs

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Limiting the amount of warming experienced by the world's oceans in the future could buy some time for tropical coral reefs, say researchers from the University of Bristol.

The study, published by the journal Geophysical Research Letters, used computer models to investigate how shallow-water tropical coral reef habitats may respond to climate change over the coming decades. Elena Couce and colleagues found that restricting greenhouse warming to three watts per square metre (equivalent to just 50-100 parts per million carbon dioxide, or approximately half again the increase since the Industrial Revolution) is needed in order to avoid large-scale reductions in reef habitat occurring in the future. Shallow-water tropical coral reefs are amongst the most productive and diverse ecosystems on the planet. They are currently in decline due to increasing frequency of bleaching events, linked to rising temperatures and fossil fuel emissions.

Elena Couce said: "If sea surface temperatures continue to rise, our models predict a large habitat collapse in the tropical western Pacific which would affect some of the most biodiverse coral reefs in the world. To protect shallow-water tropical coral reefs, the warming experienced by the world's oceans needs to be limited."

The researchers modelled whether artificial means of limiting global temperatures ? known as solar radiation 'geoengineering' ? could help. Their results suggest that if geoengineering could be successfully deployed then the decline of suitable habitats for tropical coral reefs could be slowed. They found, however, that over-engineering the climate could actually be detrimental as tropical corals do not favour overly-cool conditions. Solar radiation geoengineering also leaves unchecked a carbon dioxide problem known as 'ocean acidification'.

Elena Couce said: "The use of geoengineering technologies cannot safeguard coral habitat long term because ocean acidification will continue unabated. Decreasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is the only way to address reef decline caused by ocean acidification."

Dr Erica Hendy, one of the co-authors, added: "This is the first attempt to model the consequences of using solar radiation geoengineering on a marine ecosystem. There are many dangers associated with deliberate human interventions in the climate system and a lot more work is needed to fully appreciate the consequences of intervening in this way."

###

'Tropical coral reef habitat in a geoengineered, high-CO2 world' by E. Couce, P.J. Irvine, L. J. Gregorie, A. Ridgwell and E.J. Hendy in Geophysical Research Letters

University of Bristol: http://www.bristol.ac.uk

Thanks to University of Bristol 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.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/128263/Cooling_ocean_temperature_could_buy_more_time_for_coral_reefs

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UK Census: religion by age, ethnicity and country of birth | News ...

Muslims praying inside a mosque during the start of Ramadan - but how common a sight is this in the UK? Photograph: Romeo Ranoco/REUTERS

Christianity has had a boost from people born overseas, nearly half of Muslims in England and Wales are under 25 and Hindus are the least likely of all the religious groups to be born in the UK according to the latest 2011 Census data release by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Christianity, which previous 2011 census data tells us is still the largest religious group in England and Wales with 33.2m people, has the oldest age profile of all the main religious groups.

One in five Christians is aged 65 or over. To put this into perspective, the percentage of Christians over the age of 65 is higher than the percentage of the population aged over 65 in 2011 - 22% compared with 16%.

In comparison, 88% of Muslims are under 50 and nearly half of Muslims are under 25. Although this isn't new, Muslims also had the youngest age profile in 2001, the number aged under 25 has increased by 505,000 in the past decade.

The largest decreases amongst those identifying themselves as Christians have been in the 30-39 age group and 5-14 year olds. The ONS explain that these decreases correspond with declines in these age groups in the overall population.

We know from previous data released by the ONS that a quarter of the population of England and Wales do not have a religion but for the first time we have more details on age and background. Four in ten people with no religion were aged under 25 and four in five are under 50, with the biggest increases seen amongst the 20-24 age group and those aged 40-44.

One of the key changes that the data released today highlights is the large increase in the number of Christians born outside the UK. Since 2001 the number of Christians born in the UK has decreased by 5.3m but the number of Christians born overseas has increased by 1.2m. Of those Christians born outside the UK, 887,000 are from EU accession countries (including Poland).

Another notable rise has been in the number of Muslims born in the UK - a rise of over half a million from 718,000 to 1.2m in 2011. The data also shows that Hindus are the least likely of all the religious groups to be born in the UK followed by Buddhists, but as the ONS note, this is a pattern seen previously.

Muslims are the most ethnically diverse religious group in England and Wales, followed by Buddhists according to the census figures. Over nine in ten Christians are white, this accounts for 30.8m people. People with no religion however, are the least ethnically diverse with 93% coming from a white background.

Click on the spreadsheet to get the 2011 census data.

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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2013/may/16/uk-census-religion-age-ethnicity-country-of-birth

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How Can We Understand Benghazi Without Probing the CIA's Role? (Atlantic Politics Channel)

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Tweak your snapshots with PicShop HD, free for a limited time on iPhone and iPad

Everyone has their favorite photo editing app on their iOS device, but thanks to esDot Development Studio you can now try another. PicShop HD for iPhone and iPad is now free to download from the App Store for a limited time. PicShop HD supports images up to 8MP in resolution, perfect for your iPhone 5.

PicShop HD combines more traditional photo editing techniques such as cropping, straightening, and adjusting brightness and contrast, with filters, frames, and even drawing effects and memes should you so wish. There's enough tools on board to have a serious play around with your snapshots, which you can load directly from the Camera Roll, take a new shot and use that, or even import your photos from Facebook to tinker with.

Once you're done editing, you get a choice of size to save the image at, or direct sharing to Twitter, Email or Facebook. The UI is well designed and straight forward to use, if a little un-interesting to look at. But it has it where it counts, and is well worth a look while it's on special. Let us know how you find it, and how it compares to your own favorite photo editing apps.

• Free - Download Now

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/8RU6gIHut38/story01.htm

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Physicists light 'magnetic fire' to reveal energy's path

May 13, 2013 ? New York University physicists have uncovered how energy is released and dispersed in magnetic materials in a process akin to the spread of forest fires, a finding that has the potential to deepen our understanding of self-sustained chemical reactions.

The study, which appears in the journal Physical Review Letters, also included researchers from the University of Barcelona, City College of New York, and the University of Florida.

Forest fires spread because an initial flame or spark will heat a substance -- a trunk or branch -- causing it to burn, which releases heat that causes the fire to spread to other trunks or branches, turning a small spark into a self-sustained, propagating front of fire that can be deadly and is irreversible.

In the Physical Review Letters study, the researchers sought to understand how energy is sustained and spreads in magnetic materials -- "magnetic fire." Such knowledge is important in designing magnetic materials for energy storage applications. This is because magnetic fire can lead to a rapid and uncontrolled release of stored energy, producing significant energy loss in, for example, an electrical generator.

Research on bursts of energy within magnetic systems dates back two decades. But scientists haven't been able to measure and understand what prompts this phenomenon, known as "magnetic deflagration."

Part of this mystery lies in the nature of chemical reactions. In such reactions, which produce heat, the energy released is determined by the chemical constituents and cannot be easily varied. What is known as an "activation energy" is typically necessary to start a chemical reaction; energy is then released as the reaction proceeds. In other words, scientists have concluded that a spark is needed to begin this process -- much the same way a forest fire begins with a single lit match.

But in magnetic materials the energies can be manipulated by magnetic fields and are therefore very easily varied in an experiment. Thus the activation energy and the energy released are controllable, enabling systematic studies of the physical mechanisms of energy flow.

To achieve this, the researchers surmised they could produce such a "spark" through a series of spins -- the chemical equivalent of striking a match. In this case, they employed small single crystals of a molecular magnet -- each magnetic molecule being just one billionth of a meter -- that could be magnetized, much like the needle of a compass. The researchers provided a pulse of heat as the spark, causing molecular spins near the heaters to flip in a magnetic field, a process that released energy and transmitted it to nearby material.

"When the molecules' spins are aligned opposite the applied field direction, they possess a high level of energy," explained Andrew Kent, a professor in NYU's Department of Physics and the study's senior researcher. "And then when the spins 'flip,' energy is released and dispersed into surrounding magnetic material that can cause a runaway reaction."

Moreover, the scientists were able to control the speed of this process by adjusting the make-up of the magnetic field in their experiments. Through this detailed examination, they could see under what conditions energy is released and how it propagates.

"These are exciting results and ones that have prompted us to further consider whether a spark is even necessary to start a magnetic fire," added Kent. "We hope to observe and study situations in which the fire starts spontaneously, without a spark."

The study was conducted at NYU by Pradeep Subedi and Saul Velez, both doctoral candidates, as well as Ferran Macia, a postdoctoral researcher, and included: Shiqi Li, a City College of New York (CCNY) doctoral candidate; Myriam Sarachik, a professor at CCNY; Javier Tejada, a professor at the University of Barcelona; Shreya Mukherjee, a University of Florida doctoral candidate; and George Christou, a professor at University of Florida.

The research was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation's Division of Materials Research (DMR-1006575, DMR-0451605) and Division of Chemistry (CHE-0910472).

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/eaw6QZF2FoM/130513115220.htm

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Analysis: Google+ struggles to attract brands, some neglect to update

By Alexei Oreskovic

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - To mark the Cinco de Mayo holiday this year, Domino's Pizza festooned its Facebook page with a string of posts, including an image of a Mexican-themed guacamole pizza that garnered over 2,000 "likes". But visitors to Domino's companion Google+ page on that day found less festive fare: The most recent post was from October 2012.

Two years after introducing its social network, Google Inc is struggling to win over the brands and businesses that have been its most loyal customers in the Internet search market.

For Google+ to thrive, it is vital to draw in household names, not just to lay the groundwork for potential future business, but also because users of the site have come to expect being able to follow, comment on or even vent about their favorite brands.

Progress has been slow. Rival services from Twitter to Amazon.com Inc are increasingly competitive in vying for corporate attention and marketing budgets, while technical shortcomings of Google+ have put off some companies accustomed to the flexibility of Facebook, marketing and corporate executives say.

The biggest problem for Google+ is that many more consumers use Twitter and Facebook - and they log in to Facebook for much longer periods.

A Google spokeswoman said Google+ has been used by millions of brands and businesses, and that the benefit of the service extends beyond Google+ Web pages, by providing brands with social capabilities that enhance Google's other products.

Google+, which was first introduced in June 2011, has roughly 135 million users that it says actively use its website news stream, and about 500 million that have set up Google+ accounts at some point, according to the company. Still, Facebook has 1.1 billion users who engage with the service at least once a month, while Twitter has 200 million.

The average U.S. visitor to Google+ spent 6 minutes 47 seconds on the site in March, versus more than 6 hours on Facebook.com, according to Nielsen Media Research, though the data does not include activity on the social networks' mobile apps.

"The main reason we are more active on Facebook than Google+ is because that is where our customers and our target demographic are spending their time," said Dave Gilboa, the co-founder of online eyewear company Warby Parker.

Many businesses do build outposts on Google+, eager to benefit from its integration with Google's popular Internet search service. Some corporations have even used its online video feature for splashy product launches.

But the flurry of commercial activity common on other social networks - from restaurant promotions to movie trailers - is harder to spot on Google+, raising questions about its ability to rival Facebook or Twitter as a thriving online community.

Google does not provide detailed information on user activity. But the level of consumer engagement on other social services, such as Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, is "orders of magnitude higher" than on Google+, Gilboa says.

Still, he noted that a key benefit of Google+ for Warby Parker is the way it adds social capabilities to other Google services, such as YouTube videos his company produces.

An informal survey by Reuters showed that of the 100 most valuable global brands in 2012 ranked by Millward Brown, a media research firm owned by ad giant WPP, 72 have a presence on Google+, compared with 87 on Facebook.

However, roughly 40 percent of the brands with pages on Google+ have either never posted any content, or do so infrequently. Seventeen brands, including Nike and Pepsi, had not posted to their Google+ page in more than a week.

The McDonald's Google+ page did not have a single posting. A spokeswoman for the fast-food chain said only that the company was "not active" on Google+.

"In my personal network, I have very few people who are actively using Google+," said Dan Nguyen-Tan, vice president of sales and marketing for San Francisco-based bicycle company Public Bikes, which does regular promotions on Facebook but has not created a Google+ page. "That could be a reason why I haven't thought about it as an effective tool."

CREATIVE CONSTRAINTS

Some also complain that Google+ is too restrictive a canvas.

Its profile pages are more limited than on Facebook or Twitter because they don't support iFrame, a Web standard that allows multiple Web pages to be embedded within a main page.

"I don't think that Google+ has enough creative options for brands to be able to marshal a lot of resources and activity around it," said Vince Broady, the Chief Executive of Thismoment, which develops social marketing campaigns and Web pages for brands such as Coca Cola and Intel.

Gretchen Howard, Google's director of global social solutions, said the company was working its way down a "wish list" of features that businesses have been asking for.

Over the past year, it has rolled out a tool that allows software developers to connect with a brand's page, though that has so far been offered only to a limited group of partners.

That's not to say Google+ hasn't had its share of success stories.

Howard points to examples such as automaker Fiat's launch of its new Panda car using "Hangout" video conferencing, and the 40,000-member baking community page created by chocolate company Cadbury. According to Google, more than 100 brands on its social network have amassed more than 1 million followers.

And Google's search engine, the most popular in the world, is a big draw. Businesses who have registered with Google+ often get extra visibility in search results, with a portion of the results page displaying information from their Google+ profile.

Search ads that incorporate Google+ information - such as the number of users who follow a brand - have a 5 to 10 percent better click-through rate than regular search ads, said Howard.

"Right now, the value isn't in the network itself, it's in what it can do for the search results," said Greg Finn, director of marketing at search engine optimization firm Cypress North.

Google has never articulated how, or even if, it intends to make money off its social network. But analysts say the goal is to prevent migration of Internet users to Facebook and other social networks, while improving its core search advertising business and possibly providing a new source of income.

While Google+ does not feature any ads now, Pivotal Research Group analyst Brian Wieser said attracting major brands could be the first step to an important, high-margin revenue source.

New ad space inside Google-owned websites is particularly valuable because it doesn't need to share revenue, as Google must do when its network places ads on other websites.

"If you're Google, you really want to have more owned and operated properties," said Wieser. "That's a wonderful, high-margin piece of inventory."

Google+ is a means to that end, he said.

(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Martin Howell and Gunna Dickson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-google-struggles-attract-brands-neglect-120219911.html

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