ZTE Render joins U.S. Cellular's Windows Phone lineup with $79.99 price tag

U.S. Cellular's lineup of Windows Phone devices has been fairly lean to date, with the carrier offering just a single handset to fans of Microsoft's mobile platform. That's changed now, though, as U.S. Cellular has added a second Windows Phone product to its roster. The ZTE Render is now available from U.S. Cellular for $79.99 with a two-year contract and $100 mail-in rebate. When it comes to specs, the Render's packing a 4-inch WVGA display and 5-megapixel camera on the outside as well as a 1GHz processor, 4GB storage, 512MB RAM and a 1,600mAh battery stuffed into its body. The OS that customers can expect to find on-board is Windows Phone 7.5 (Tango 2).

If you're feeling a bit of d?j? vu right now, it may be due to the fact that we've already seen the Render once before. The device is actually a U.S. Cellular-friendly version of the ZTE Orbit, which was announced way back in late February at Mobile World Congress. While the ZTE Render is unlikely to appeal to the hardcore Windows Phone enthusiasts that are waiting for the arrival of Windows Phone 8 later this year, it's still good to see USCC expanding its Windows Phone lineup. Here's to hoping that the flow of new Windows Phone handsets hitting U.S. Cellular will pick up once Windows Phone 8 lands.

Via WPCentral, U.S. Cellular

Source: http://feeds.phonedog.com/~r/phonedog_cellphoneblog/~3/JW0yBu5_i7s/

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Tyee Club bell serves as wedding bells for Will and Faron?s nuptials

Campbell River has been very good to my girlfriend (now wife) Faron and myself.

We spent three great summers working at Painters Lodge and getting a good dose of the fish stories that define Campbell River?s sport fishing community.

Joe Watson introduced us to the Tyee Club and the character building experience of rowing in the Tyee Pool with its complexities of time, tide and history.

We have yet to achieve membership, although Faron has come close. I have managed to row one member into the club, probably my proudest fishing achievement, on the rod or off.

When we finally decided to tie the knot, Campbell River was the natural venue, and September was the natural season.

The Tyee Club property, with its spectacular garden, views, and Chinook rolling just off the beach, seemed the perfect spot for the ceremony. We barely mustered the courage to ask, thinking that the hallowed grounds of the club would unlikely be available for a wedding, particularly at the peak of the season.

However, we were welcomed with open arms by the club, who went out of their way to be supportive. We were even treated to some excellent pro bono marital advice from veteran members.

The ceremony was a great success, with the bride arriving in a row boat borrowed from club members Jim and Judy Spiers.

We would like to thank the Tyee Club members for their welcome; as soon as life allows we hope to move to Campbell River and become fixtures in the Tyee Pool, although in more practical clothes.

?

? Will Duguid/Special to the Mirror

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Source: http://www.campbellrivermirror.com/lifestyles/171611541.html

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iLuv MobiAir iMM377

Most speaker docks, and by most I mean pretty much all, are designed for iOS devices. They integrate the familiar, though soon-to-be-obsolete, 30-pin connector, while Android devices have to connect around back with a 3.5mm cable, if that option is even offered. iLuv offers an Android-friendly alternative in the MobiAir iMM377, a Bluetooth speaker with an adjustable microUSB jack to hold and charge your Android smartphone or small tablet. Audio quality is unimpressive, but at?$119.99 (direct) it's inexpensive, and it is?a rare breed of speaker dock built specifically for Android devices.?

Design
The 4.7-by-9.8-by-2.0-inch (HWD) black, oblong speaker dock looks sparse and simple. The front holds the dock assembly, which includes a microUSB jack on a sliding arm, a rectangular plastic backplate with a springy rubber section, and a fixed rubber pad to keep your Android device steady. Two stiff arms that rotate out to accommodate any size smartphone and many smaller Android tablets. It handled the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD easily, but couldn't accommodate a 10-inch tablet. Two rows of four buttons line the top panel, including Power, Bluetooth, Volume Up/Down, Play/Pause, Call/Hang Up, Track Back, and Track Forward. The back of the dock houses the power port and a 3.5mm audio input, which you need to connect any non-Bluetooth device like the original Kindle Fire.?

The microUSB jack is purely for charging the phone and keeping it in place, and since the dock doesn't need to be powered on to charge your phone, it will deliver juice as long as it's plugged in. The iMM377 doesn't have a battery, and while it uses Bluetooth, it's not particularly portable because of its power needs and design. Unlike mobile Bluetooth speakers like the Jawbone Jambox?, Jabra Solemate, or our Editors' Choice, the Logitech UE Mobile Boombox?, the iMM377 doesn't feel like it could withstand much of a drop or splash. This is strictly a desktop/tabletop speaker.

Performance
The iMM377 doesn't sound amazing, but for its price, it's not bad. In my tests, deep sub-bass notes in The Knife's "Silent Shout" distorted terribly, and the kick drums in Oingo Boingo's "Dead Man's Party" crunched slightly. Midrange notes sounded warm and clear, like the vocals in Jonathan Coulton's "Re: Your Brains," but higher ranges like the horns in "Dead Man's Party" sounded a bit soft and flat. Bass response is disappointing, even for a speaker this size.

As a speakerphone, the iMM377 fares about as well as any speaker its size and price. When I made calls, voices sounded slightly distorted and staticky on the other end, and my voice was described similarly. I've yet to see any Bluetooth speaker or small speaker dock perform well at this task, though, and even with the quality complaints it fared better than the Jabra Solemate and only a little worse than the Logitech UE Mobile Boombox.

For a combination Bluetooth speaker and Android smartphone charger, you could do worse than the iLuv MobiAir iMM377. It fits most phones and small tablets, it sounds decent, and it's a functional speakerphone. It's not portable, though, and the sound quality won't blow you away. If you want better audio quality and complete wireless convenience, pick up our Editors' Choice Bluetooth speaker, the Logitech UE Mobile Boombox, instead. It costs less, can run on battery power all day, and you can use the included microUSB cable to charge your phone (but not through the speaker itself).

More Speaker Reviews:
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/Mci5mvODCEk/0,2817,2410219,00.asp

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Florida Dream Defenders demand UF rename student union | Fight ...

Gainesville, FL - On Sept. 25, over a dozen Gainesville and Tallahassee activists packed the room during a University of Florida (UF) Student Senate meeting. The Dream Defenders were there to support a non-binding referendum calling for a name change of the Reitz Student Union. Students will have a chance to reject the current building?s name, which commemorates known racist and homophobe John Wayne Reitz, in favor of one that commemorates Virgil Hawkins. Hawkins was a Black civil rights leader who gained renown for his successful desegregation campaigns at Florida university campuses.

During the 1950s and 1960s, former University of Florida President John Wayne Reitz gained notoriety for his administration's purges of gay and leftist employees and students. He also resisted racial integration and the admission of African-American students. His administration turned away as many as 85 African-American students. Among them was Virgil Hawkins, who fought to desegregate the University of Florida and finally succeeded in 1964.

In celebration of Virgil Hawkins' achievements, University of Florida students obtained the necessary 500 signatures to put a non-binding referendum to rename the student union on this semester's ballot. In a blocking motion, white members of Greek fraternities and sororities in the UF student government deemed the petition unconstitutional because it was proposed by one of its own student senators. The student senator proposing the referendum is African-American. The UF campus Supreme Court overturned the student government decision and the referendum is now going forward.

Gainesville Dream Defender Nailah Summers gave this sobering explanation for student government's efforts to block the referendum: "The Reitz family is still donating huge amounts of money to the university, so they are pressuring student government to block the name change referendum. The student government doesn't care about justice, racism or the time that Reitz said that 'homosexuals are an aberration.' They are elected because of their money, to protect their money, and to protect UF administrators' money, no matter who pays the price."

During the Sept. 25 Senate meeting, activists from the Tallahassee Dream Defenders and the newly formed Gainesville Dream Defenders held up signs that voiced the anger and outrage felt by thousands of African-American, Latino and LGBTQ University of Florida students. "The Reitz Union does not represent us," one sign read, while another declared, "If Reitz were still around, he wouldn't want us here!"

This student government controversy occurs in the wake of a hate crime performed on Sept. 11, when the word "faggot" was keyed into the car of an openly gay UF professor. The LGBTQ community at UF, represented by Pride Student Union and Queer People of Color, held a rally Sept. 20 in order to protest the resounding lack of investigation. The concern of students feeling unsafe on their own campus came up repeatedly in speeches made by the Dream Defenders during public debate.

The Dream Defenders packing the meeting room demanded that senators vote for the name change to honor Virgil Hawkins. The Dream Defenders campaign against racism and national oppression on campus and in U.S. society. They demand an end to mass incarcerations, the growing number of deportations and the rigged education system that favors culturally white private schools.

"There are civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X and Virgil Hawkins who fought for our freedoms," said Michael Sampson from the Tallahassee Dream Defender chapter, "and they deserve the honor of having UF's most important building named after them, instead of a rich man who fought to keep members of the black, brown and LGBTQ communities in America's underclass. If we would still rather celebrate racists instead of leaders of the Black Power movement, then we as a nation have not changed."

Source: http://www.fightbacknews.org/es/node/3141

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The push for marriage 'equality' is leading to less tolerance, not ...

?Hate crimes? are being investigated on all sides

Campaigners in Maryland before a state vote on marriage (Photo: PA)

Reading posts in response to Herald blogs on the subject of changing the law on marriage so that it is no longer defined as being between a man and a woman ? as David Cameron has pledged to do by 2015 ? I have been struck by the way supporters of this change brush aside the fears of those who oppose altering the law. The latter fear that if, in the future, they defend traditional marriage in public ? in classrooms, meetings and so on ? they will be in breach of the law. As the law has not ? yet ? changed we cannot know for certain if these fears are mere hysteria or legitimate, but there are precedents for anxiety over the matter.

Christian Voice has drawn my attention to a story told by journalist Mark Steyn, about the absurd situations that can arise in ?hate crime? legislation. Steyn writes, ??the very same words can be proof of two entirely different hate crimes. Iqbal Sacranie is a Muslim of such exemplary ?moderation? he?s been knighted by the Queen. The head of the Muslim Council of Britain, Sir Iqbal was interviewed by the BBC and expressed the view that homosexuality was ?immoral?, was ?not acceptable?, ?spreads disease? and ?damaged the very foundations of society?. A gay group complained and Sir Iqbal was investigated by Scotland Yard?s ?community safety unit? for ?hate crimes? and ?homophobia?.

?Independently but simultaneously, the magazine of GALHA (the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association) called Islam a ?barmy doctrine? growing ?like a canker? and deeply ?homophobic?. In return, the London Race Hate Crime Forum asked Scotland Yard to investigate GAHLA for ?Islamophobia?. Got that? If a Muslim says that Islam is opposed to homosexuality, Scotland Yard will investigate him for homophobia; but if a gay says that Islam is opposed to homosexuality, Scotland Yard will investigate him for Islamophobia. Two men say exactly the same thing and they?re investigated for different hate crimes.?

This would be laughable if it were not so serious. Christian Voice adds other examples of heavy-handed and inappropriate state interference, such as that involving a 14-year-old girl, Codie Stott, who ?asked her teacher at Harrop Fold High School whether she could sit with another group to do her science project as in hers the other five pupils spoke Urdu and she didn?t understand what they were saying. The teacher called the police, who took her to the station, photographed her, fingerprinted her, took DNA samples, removed her jewellery and shoelaces, put her in a cell for three and a half hours, and questioned her on suspicion of committing a Section Five ?racial public-order offence?. ?An allegation of a serious nature was made concerning a racially motivated remark,? declared the headmaster, Antony Edkins. The school would ?not stand for racism in any form?. In a statement, Greater Manchester Police said they took ?hate crime? very seriously and their treatment of Miss Stott was in line with ?normal procedure?.

MercatorNet draws attention to another potential minefield: mothers and fathers will officially cease to exist in France if draft gay marriage legislation promoted by the new socialist government goes ahead. Instead, all references to ?mothers and fathers? in the nation?s civil code will be exchanged for the non-gender-specific ?parents?. The draft law, due to go before President Hollande?s cabinet for approval on October 31, states that ?marriage is a union of two people, of different or the same gender?.

The problem is that trying to promote a false equality does not lead to peaceful coexistence or greater tolerance but to their opposite. Progressives who want to change the nature of the marriage laws in order to give same-sex unions the status of marriage are very intolerant of those they see as deeply prejudiced for wanting to retain the status quo; those seeking to keep the status quo are intolerant of what they see as misguided and illiberal attempts to undermine the foundations of a healthily functioning society. Accusations of ?hate crimes? will abound and increase; the stage is set for a long war of attrition.

Source: http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2012/09/28/the-push-for-marriage-equality-is-leading-to-less-tolerance-not-more/

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FSA seeks to mend "broken" Libor, not end it

LONDON (Reuters) - The Financial Services Authority (FSA) delivered a 10-point plan to overhaul Libor on Friday but stopped short of scrapping the benchmark interest rate discredited by a rigging scandal.

The Financial Services Authority's plan marks the first concrete step by regulators to repair a system of interest rates that underpins more than $300 trillion (185.8 trillion pounds) of contracts and loans from U.S. mortgages to Japanese interest-rate swaps.

Faith in the system plummeted after Barclays was fined in June for rigging Libor. Other banks are under investigation.

"The system is broken and needs a complete overhaul," said Martin Wheatley, head of the FSA.

But there are no better alternatives now and any transition to a new benchmark would be difficult because Libor is so deeply embedded in the financial system, Wheatley said, adding that it made sense to look at other possible benchmarks long term.

Britain's government sees the reform of Libor as critical to restoring global confidence in London as a financial centre.

"The longer the situation prevails that trust has been eroded, the more difficult it is to restore," Britain's financial services minister Greg Clark told Reuters.

The FSA plan includes oversight by a new panel from 2013. Until now, Libor rates have been set daily by the British Bankers Association (BBA) industry body on the basis of estimates submitted by global banks.

"Bringing Libor under an independent regulator will take away the notion that this was a system run by banks for the benefit of banks," said Matthew Fell, director for competitive markets at the Confederation of British Industry lobby group.

Short sterling futures jumped in London as some in the market had expected Wheatley's reforms to be tougher, with the result that Libor rates would be higher than in the past.

CHARGES OF MANIPULATION

Most responses to the plan were supportive, but Stephen Gilchrist, head of regulatory law at Saunders Law, said regulation of individuals as proposed by Wheatley had not stopped abuses in other financial markets.

"The FSA only authorise persons in the financial services sector who pass a ?fit and proper' test, which goes to probity and integrity. Where has that got us in the recent past?" Gilchrist said in an email.

Multiple banks have been accused of trying to manipulate Libor. Barclays Plc agreed to pay over $450 million to U.S. and British authorities in June to settle allegations it tried to move Libor to help its trading positions.

Wheatley's programme for reform includes auditing banks that contribute data used to calculate the rates. The number of rates calculated will be cut from 150 to 20, with more banks required to contribute to the remaining ones.

Libor, which is meant to reflect the rates at which banks borrow from one another, will also include actual borrowing transactions. Previously, banks could estimate where they think they would borrow, which left room for manipulation.

Bank employees making Libor submissions will have to be approved by the FSA. Wheatley is looking for authorisation to criminally sanction anyone who attempts to rig the rate.

Reuters parent company Thomson Reuters Corp collects information from banks and uses it to calculate Libor rates according to specifications drawn up by the BBA.

Thomson Reuters and Bloomberg LP, which compete in providing news and data to markets, both said they were working with the financial industry in response to the Libor review.

David Craig, president of Financial & Risk at Thomson Reuters, said the company was considering whether to tender for the new administrator role. Dan Doctoroff, President and CEO of Bloomberg said it was consulting on developing an index to meet the needs raised by Wheatley.

A major remaining problem is that in financial crises, such as the one in 2008, banks cease lending to one another, effectively removing data needed to calculate Libor.

Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, said: "Over the medium to long term, further thinking will be needed to meet the challenge of benchmarks based on thinly traded markets, especially when they are quote-based."

The reforms come amid more crackdowns on the banks that submitted rates used to calculate Libor. Royal Bank of Scotland is expected to be next to settle Libor charges.

Britain's government commissioned Wheatley to report on reforming Libor and is expected to back the findings in full. Legislative changes will be inserted into a financial services bill now being approved by parliament.

(Additional reporting by Olesya Dmitracova in London, Rick Rothacker in Charlotte, North Carolina and Carrick Mollenkamp and Jennifer Saba in New York; Writing by Dan Wilchins and Steve Slater; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fsa-says-broken-libor-needs-complete-revamp-013916275--finance.html

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3 Steps For Never Failing Your Financial Goals | Credit Karma Blog

September 26th, 2012

| | |

**Welcome to Self-Improvement Month here on the Credit Karma Blog! Today?s guest post is contributed by Jeffrey.**

Do you think willpower is what determines whether or not you accomplish your goals? No?! I?ve never been a big believer myself. Sure, having a concrete goal is crucial, but why stop there when you can use tricks that will be much more effective in ensuring success?

After trying out lots of different strategies for achieving goals, here are my three easiest steps to help you accomplish yours.

1. Decide Why Your Goal Is Important

I can?t tell you how many times I?ve set goals, financial or otherwise, and have failed miserably. For example, I?ve attempted to learn a new language several times. I?ve even gone as far as to spend hundreds of dollars on Rosetta Stone. But just deciding (and spending the money) wasn?t enough, and I?ve never achieved the results I wanted.

Why? I didn?t have a powerful enough reason to want to learn the language. I treated my lessons like a hobby that I?d get to whenever I?d have time since I didn?t make learning Spanish a priority. I just felt like learning a new language, even though I didn?t have a real reason to do so, and this ended up being a barrier to accomplishing my goal. I knew the ?what? but not the ?why? of what I wanted to do.

When I decided I wanted to quit my job, I approached the situation in a completely different way. I thought long and hard about my decision, and I knew exactly why I wanted to go for it ? so I could have more freedom to live and travel wherever I wanted. To me, that?s a very powerful and motivating goal, and this made the ?how do I get there?? much easier to solve.

When you?re setting your goals, don?t make the mistake that I did with languages. Think about or write down why this goal is so important to you that you won?t allow yourself to fail. Make sure your ?why? is extremely compelling, or you?ll risk failure.

2. Create an Automatic System

Once you have your goal, I strongly recommend doing everything you can to guarantee you won?t deviate from your plan. For me, the best way is to automate your goals in every way possible.

Why automate? First off, it works better when you don?t leave success up to your memory or daily decision-making. Once you have a system set up, there?s no further action necessary, and it?s much hard to rethink and reconsider your decisions.

Once you put your system in place, you?re less likely to undo your decisions, too. If it?s an automatic payment towards a bill, there?s no turning back once it?s applied to your account. If you?re moving money into savings, you?ll have to manually go in to your account and transfer it out. I don?t know about you, but it?s extremely hard for me to hit the ?Accept? button on any financial transaction that I know is going directly against the goals that mean the most to me. Oftentimes I?ll scrap plans to take money back out of savings because it just pains me too much to let myself down like that.

The best part is automation works for a wide range of financial goals: savings, investing, paying down credit card or student loan debt. Virtually any action that involves moving money around can be automated.

For your goals, ask yourself how you can make success more automatic and leave less up to chance, memory, and your own discretion.

3. Make Your Goal Known, and Make it Painful to Fail

To me, the only thing worse than failure is being seen as a failure by others. That said, to keep myself from failing, I like to make my goals as public as possible. I?ve posted what I want to accomplish my blog, my Facebook page, and in emails to my support group of friends. After doing that, I feel accountable to dozens of people and more driven to succeed. But if I was the only one who knew my goals, it would be much easier to brush off failure and forget about it.

Do you want to fully fund a Roth IRA this year? Or maybe you want to finally save for a trip to Barcelona. No matter what it is, tell someone your exact goal. Better yet, ask them to check in on you and hold you accountable every week or two, and I?m sure you?ll feel more pressure to not let them down.

If humiliation isn?t enough for failing your goals, set up a financial penalty if you don?t make it. I recently decided to donate to the campaign of the presidential campaign I?m NOT supporting if I fail daily or weekly goals. Giving money to this candidate is one of the worst things I can imagine, so I?m very motivated to work harder on my goals and stay on track with my budgeting and retirement milestones, too.

If you want increased ?refereeing? for your particular situation, check out StickK, where you can make a commitment contract, find someone to hold you accountable, and get support, too.

You don?t have to copy my example, but you could instead cancel plans to eat out or upgrade your smartphone unless you accomplish your goals. For your money goals, maybe you?ve committed to not buying lunch on workdays or staying within spending limits each month for. Whatever motivates you to do (or to not do) something, use it to your advantage, and I guarantee you?ll instantly be more focused and likely to stay on track.

Jeffrey Trull is a freelance writer and blogger at Money Spruce, where he helps others spend money doing the things they love most. You can find his work around the web on his writer website.

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Source: http://blog.creditkarma.com/blog-series/guest-blogs/achieving-financial-goals/

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