Clinton has blood clot close to her brain: doctors

NEW YORK - Top US diplomat Hillary Clinton is suffering from a blood clot in a vein in her head but should make a full recovery, doctors said Monday as she spent New Year's Eve in hospital.

A routine scan on Sunday had revealed "that a right transverse sinus venous thrombosis had formed," doctors Lisa Bardack, of Mount Kisco Medical Group, and Gigi El-Bayoumi, of George Washington University, said in a statement.

They described it as "a clot in the vein that is situated in the space between the brain and the skull behind the right ear. It did not result in a stroke, or neurological damage."

Clinton was admitted to the New York Presbyterian Hospital on Sunday following the discovery and is being treated with blood thinners to dissolve the clot. She will be released "once the medication dose has been established."

"In all other aspects of her recovery, the secretary is making excellent progress and we are confident she will make a full recovery. She is in good spirits, engaging with her doctors, her family, and her staff," they added.

Her top aide, Philippe Reines, said Sunday the popular US secretary of state would stay in the hospital for some 48 hours after being admitted so she could be monitored while on the anti-coagulant drugs.

The globe-trotting diplomat has not been seen in public after succumbing to a stomach virus on returning from a trip to Europe on December 7.

It's a rare absence for the most popular member of President Barack Obama's cabinet, who has been a highly-visible and loyal supporter of his foreign policy agenda, traveling almost a million miles during four years in office.

But Clinton, 65, has made it clear she intends to step down in the coming weeks, once Senator John Kerry, tapped by President Barack Obama to replace her, is confirmed by the Senate.

Clinton fell ill with the bad stomach bug virus on her return from her trip to Prague, Brussels, Dublin and Belfast, which caused her to become dehydrated. She fainted and suffered a concussion.

According to one media report on the website Buzzfeed, she was being treated amid tight security on the hospital's 9th floor, known as the VIP wing, where her husband, former president Bill Clinton, had bypass surgery in 2004.

The couple's daughter, Chelsea, was seen leaving the hospital visibly upset on Monday, The New York Daily News said.

It is not the first health scare for Clinton. In 1998, the then first lady had a blood clot in her leg which she told the New York Daily News was "scary because you have to treat it immediately -- you don't want to take the risk that it will break loose and travel to your brain, or your heart or your lungs."

Though once seen as a deeply divisive figure, she now has approval ratings above 60 percent. And many believe she will run again for the White House in 2016, despite being narrowly defeated by Obama for the Democratic nomination in 2008.

A Gallup poll released Monday showed Clinton again topping an annual list of the woman most admired by Americans, winning support from 21 percent of those surveyed. It is the 17th time she has topped the list, a landmark for Gallup.

Clinton's lengthy absence from public life had sparked claims from some of her fiercest critics that she was faking illness to avoid testifying before lawmakers investigating a deadly attack on a US mission in Libya.

The September 11 assault on the US mission in eastern Benghazi, in which the US ambassador and three other American officials were killed, sparked a political firestorm in the United States. A subsequent State Department inquiry found that security at the mission was "grossly inadequate."

source: interaksyon.com

Payment for UK visa applications from Philippines now online - embassy

MANILA - Starting January 14, all UK visa applicants in the Philippines will now be required to pay for their visa online, in US Dollars, as part of the online application process using either a Visacard or Mastercard, the British embassy here said in a news release.

The integration of payment into the online system will provide a more streamlined visa application process for customers and is part of a wider move to allow almost all of our customers to apply and pay for their visas online by 2013/14, the embassy said.

The new rule was enforced starting December 17, 2012. However, customers who have completed their online application form prior to that date were allowed to pay using one of the methods of payment currently available, until January 13, 2013.

From January 14, 2013 only applications where the payment has been made online will be accepted.

Once customers have applied and paid for their visa online they will need to visit the visa application centre to submit their documents and provide their biometrics (fingerprints and digital photograph). Appointments to attend the visa application centre should be booked online when completing the online application form.

For further information on how to apply for a visa in the Philippines, visit the UK Border Agency in the Philippines website at http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/countries/philippines/

source: interaksyon.com

Best of 2012: Kristen Stewart's Style, "Gangnam Style" and the Best of Absolutely Everything!

2012 was a big year for entertainment. There were big stories (Kristen Stewart cheated on Robert Pattinson!), big songs ("Gangnam Style," anyone?), big changes (Miley Cyrus got a haircut!)...and that's just the beginning.

Surely you've been following our Best of 2012 lists counting down books, movies, music and TV. We also recounted the Most Shocking Twists, Cutest Couples and Celebrity TwitPics.

Now we present the best of the best in one all-encompassing gallery. Get your nostalgia on with 2012's highs (The Obamas reign supreme), lows (Rihanna and Chris Brown round 2) and everything in between.

source: eonline.com

More Canadians confident of finances

Canadians' financial confidence is growing, with 70 percent feeling good about the year ahead, a 6 percent jump from a year ago, a poll indicates.

The CIBC poll conducted by Harris/Decima found residents of Ontario -- 74 percent -- and the Prairies -- at 75 percent -- are among the most positive in the country when it comes to their current financial situation.

More Canadians also are feeling better about their longer-term financial goals. The poll found 74 percent said they were confident they would reach their future financial goals, up 2 percentage points from last year.

More Canadians are also taking their own advice and setting goals for the year, with 61 percent of respondents saying they generally set financial goals for themselves, compared with 51 percent two years ago.

"Canadians are entering 2013 with a more positive outlook on their finances today, and with the confidence that they can reach their long-term financial goals," Christina Kramer, executive vice president at CIBC, one of Canada's largest banks, said in a statement.

Each week, Harris/Decima interviews more than 1,000 Canadians via teleVox, the company's national telephone omnibus survey.

These survey of 2,009 Canadians between Oct. 25 to Nov. 4, had a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points.

source: upi.com

Merkel: Euro debt crisis 'far from over'

The eurozone debt crisis is "far from over," even as reforms begin to show results, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in remarks to be broadcast Monday.

"The reforms that we've agreed on are starting to be effective," Merkel said in her recorded New Year's address.

"Nevertheless, we still need a lot of patience. The crisis is far from over," she said in a transcript of her addressed released early Monday.

Her comments differed from those of Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who was quoted Thursday as telling the Bild newspaper, "I think we have the worst behind us."


They also differed from those of European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, who told France's Europe 1 radio Nov. 30, "The recovery for the entire eurozone will no doubt begin in the second half of 2013."

Merkel, 58, who faces an election to a third term in September, pointed to Germany's lowest level of unemployment since 1990's reunification of East Germany and West Germany, while the number of people employed had risen to record highs.

She said this meant "many hundreds of thousands of families have a secure future."

Merkel urged Germans to resist laying blame on economically weaker countries for the 3-year-old financial crisis that has made it difficult or impossible for some eurozone governments to repay or re-finance their debt without assistance.

"For our prosperity and our solidarity, we need the right balance. We need the willingness to perform and social security for all," she said in the recorded remarks. "The European sovereign debt crisis shows how important this balance is."

source: upi.com

New York City top New Year's destination

New York City topped Priceline.com's Top 50 destinations for New Year's based on thousands of hotel booking requests, officials of the travel website said.

"This is the second straight year that New York City has taken the top spot, so revelers will probably see a crowded Times Square this year," Brian Ek, in-house Travel Ekspert at Priceline.com said in a statement. "Elsewhere, New Year's crowds appear to be headed to Florida and southern California where the theme parks and major parades should see solid turnouts."

The Ninth annual list of the Top 50 destinations for New Year's included sections of cities such as the Latin Quarter in New Orleans, or New York City's Midtown West. Florida destinations took 12 spots on the list of 50 destination, while major theme park destinations in the Sunshine State and southern California appeared on the list seven times. New York City appeared on the list six times.

The top 10 New Year's destinations are:

-- New York City, Midtown West.

-- New Orleans, French Quarter.

-- Las Vegas, Strip North.

-- New York City, Upper East Side.

-- Las Vegas, Strip Vicinity South.

-- New York City, Times Square/Theater District.

-- Orlando, Downtown Disney/Lake Buena Vista.

-- Miami, Downtown.

-- San Francisco, Fisherman's Wharf.

-- Chicago, North Michigan Ave./River North Area.

source: upi.com

Building Wealth When the Economy is Slow

Just because the economy in our nation is going through a little bit of turmoil, that does not mean that we have to be all doom and gloom about the world. Don't watch the news if you can't stomach the headlines. Why should you get pulled into all the negativity about how our economy is going down the drain? The truth is, there is another side of the issue that we never really hear about: There are people in our economy right now that are getting rich. There are other people who are currently positioning themselves in such a way that they can prosper heavily as soon as the economy begins to swing back into our favor, a growth cycle. There are a wide variety of different ways that you can make this happen, meaning that building wealth is possible even when the economy is down, or slow.

Although it may be rarely discussed in the mainstream media, there are actually good investments out there in this economy of ours. There are always going to be ways for you to invest in such a way that you can earn a solid return, no matter what cycle of the economy we are currently experiencing. There is absolutely no doubt that there are people right now who are in trouble, but not everyone is in trouble, and some people ARE making it big. We are hearing plenty of news about people being laid off, and unemployment numbers climbing, so how can we find out about what investments are still viable in this economy of ours? Here is a hint: Think about things that people need, or think about what people perceive that they actually need. People are still buying cosmetics, and people are still buying alcoholic beverages, for example, even when the economy is down. In other words, you can invest in the things that aren't going away no matter how bad the economy seems to get.

You should also consider investing in companies that will help you save money on things like transportation, energy, food or entertainment. People are always looking for possibilities for stretching their dollars further, especially when it comes to buying things they need, or simply buying the things that they believe that they need.

Before you put your money into the investment ideas mentioned above, keep this in mind: You will do well to invest in these things now, but you would have done better by investing a year ago to two years ago, because then you could be selling your investments at a much higher point than now. You could be taking serious profits on the sales you made, re-investing the profits into the other businesses that are recession proof in nature accordingly. This really is not a difficult concept, so start taking advantage of it today.

source:  richcreditdebtloan.com

The Many Flavors of Loans

Money can be lent to those in need, at a reasonable rate, from a pool of money that comes from investors and savers. When the lending institution provides money for consumers to borrow, either secured or unsecured, the practice is known as providing a consumer loan. These loans do not include loans such as mortgages, which are reserved for solitary purposes. The different kinds of consumer loans each carry a different set of rules regarding who can borrow, for how long, and so on. What will be available to you will greatly depend upon your credit rating, income and all of the usual measures.

- Personal Line of Credit

These accounts are offered by personnel of the lending institute. These accounts offer a flexible way to use credit, because funds are pulled out as needed, and the interest payment will adjust every month. They are typically only given to worthy creditors, with a maximum placed upon the amount that can be lent. Creditors will also typically offer the prime rate + 1%.

- Overdraft Protection

This account affords protection to a deposit account from being overdrawn. The amount over what is lacking becomes a loan which accumulates interest. This sort of account protection is especially handy, since it allows you to avoid bounced check fees and the other problems that come with having a check or payment not go through.

- Credit Cards

A credit card is in effect a loan system, where instead of purchasing items yourself, the credit card company pays for your item, and you then become responsible for paying the company back, usually with an interest applied.

- Credit Card Cash Advances

Available from their credit card, these loans are known as cash advances. These loans immediately begin to accumulate interest, which is typically higher than for a cash advance on a credit card. These enable you to get cash in hand, but at the cost of a much higher interest rate than for an actual cash load or line of credit.

- Demand Loan

If the borrower has good credit, then they may be able to arrange for a demand loan. These loans require an agreement to repay in full by a certain date, while just the interest is due monthly and the lender can recall the loan at any time.

- Installment Loans

These loans offer a set interest rate, a repayment schedule, a maturity date, and can require certain security features. Basically, it is a set number of payments of a set amount that you are required to pay.
These are a few of the kinds of loans that a person can get through a financial institution. There are other kinds of loans available that have other rules to their use. What will be available to you will greatly depend upon you credit score and situation, what you can offer as collateral, the amount of income you possess, and much more.

source: richcreditdebtloan.com

Workers Expect Higher Pay, Job Growth in 2013

The unemployment rate may still be sitting at elevated levels, but workers are optimistic about their paychecks and employment opportunities in the new year.

According to a new survey conducted by human resources services firm Randstad, more than half of respondents (57%) expect to get a raise in the New Year--a 10% increase from last year. What’s more, 59% of employees think the job market will improve in 2013.

“The outlook for next year certainly looks brighter for most employees,” says Jim Link, managing director of human resources for Randstad US in a press release. “Today we see employees are very positive about their future prospects and are hopeful to regain any economic momentum lost.”

The labor market improved slightly in 2012, but uncertainty brought on by the election and economic growth forced many employers to hold back on increasingly payroll, training and development and expanding.

“Optimism is indeed becoming prevalent,” says Link in an interview. However, all of that hope and optimism could evaporate if politicians aren’t able to reach a deal on the fiscal cliff before Jan. 1. Without a deal, experts warn the economy could fall into a recession which will impact job growth and employment.

Survey respondents were also more upbeat about their positions within their current companies with 47% expecting their employer to more people, an increase of 7% from last year. Thirty percent think they will get a promotion in 2013, up from 6% in last year’s survey.

Despite almost half of respondents reporting that the weak economy has negatively impacted their careers, only 15% are worried they could lose their jobs and 78% think the companies they work for have a good future.

When it comes to employee benefits and compensation, optimism is also improving heading into the new year. According to the survey, 16% worry they will experience a pay cut, down 8% from last year, while 41% think companies will scale back on benefits in 2013, 6% lower than 2012.

Although 47% plan to explore their job options next year, more than two-thirds (68%) say their companies made an effort to keep them engaged while 62% expect to continue their careers with their current employers. While employees are going into the New Year happy and loyal, that doesn’t mean the sentiment will hold steady if employers fail to offer fair compensation, job growth and development, promotional opportunities and a flexible work schedule, says Link, noting companies have to stay focused and committed to keeping workers engaged.  “As optimism increases, employee engagement will be increasingly important for companies’ retention efforts. This is why it is so valuable for employers to analyze and understand what motivates their most important asset--talent.”

source: foxbusiness.com

Apple Predictions for 2013: Apple iTV, iPhone 5S and More

This year is coming to a close and there were plenty of big headlines from Apple, Samsung, Google, Microsoft, Nokia and many other major tech companies. Apple had plenty of major headlines, from the maps fiasco to the introductions of the iPhone 5 and the iPad mini. Despite the introduction of several new products, rumors are still rampant about the Apple iTV, a possible smart watch that works with the iPhone, and even early iPhone 5S rumors. So what can we expect from Apple in 2013? Here are a few of my thoughts for product updates, and whether or not I think some rumors will actually come to fruition.

Apple iTV

An actual television set developed by Apple has been rumored for more than a year now, but I think 2013 might be the year when we start to learn about Apple’s possible move into the TV space. We already have the company’s Apple TV set top box, but I think Apple can change the industry even further by providing a television with Siri voice controls, an iOS operating system for running applications and the best TV-based web browser ever available. Apple’s big challenge will be securing deals with cable providers, however, and recent reports have suggested that has been one of the largest holdups. If we don’t see the TV launch in 2013 (at least one executive said it won’t be coming soon) I imagine we’ll start to learn more about it, at the very least, through leaks. Apple flipped the smartphone industry on its head with the iPhone in 2007, and I think it’s capable of doing the same to our living rooms with its own TV.

iPhone 5S

This one is a no brainer, but a prediction list would be amiss without mentioning the iPhone 5S. The next generation iPhone will probably be called the iPhone 5S, because it follows Apple’s historical iPhone naming scheme. We moved from the iPhone to the iPhone 3G, the iPhone 3GS, the iPhone 4, the iPhone 4S and now the iPhone 5. It just makes sense. I’m guessing we’ll see NFC added finally, improved camera hardware as usual, and probably better storage options. I imagine the body and the display will remain the same, since Apple tends to change it every two years. We’ll also probably see more RAM and a faster processor, but again, those are no brainers. I think the real treat will be finding out what iOS 7 has to offer.

iPad mini 2

This is another obvious one. Apple will no doubt release a new iPad mini next year that will probably sport the faster A6X processor, more RAM, better storage options and, of course, a Retina display. I returned my iPad mini because I think its price point was too high for what the product ultimately offered me, and the screen resolution really bothered me at the end of the day. Hopefully the iPad mini 2 will push the price of the original iPad mini down into the $199 range, where Apple will continue to compete against Samsung, Amazon, Google and other tablet rivals.

source: foxbusiness.com

Online sellers tailor prices to geography

U.S. online retailers use their computing power to tailor prices to where their customers are located, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The newspaper said it found Staples.com charged $15.79 for a stapler that another customer just few miles away got for $14.29. The Journal said it found Staples appeared to factor in a customer's distance from a rival brick-and-mortar store, such as OfficeMax or Office Depot, when quoting a price.

"How can they get away with that?" asked Trude Frizzell, the Bergheim, Texas, customer who got the lower price.

"I think it's very discriminatory," said Kim Wamble, the customer in nearby Boerne, Texas, who was made to pay the higher amount.

The Journal said its investigation found areas that tended to have discounted prices had a higher average income than places that tended to get higher prices.

Staples told the newspaper its online and in-store prices vary by geography based on "a variety of factors," including "costs of doing business."

The Journal said companies such as Discover Financial Services, Rosetta Stone Inc. and Home Depot gather information about visitors to their websites and use it to develop different pitches to different people -- with prices, products and advertising shaped for specific geographic areas.

Companies that do it say online price differences are no different than those for bricks-and-mortar stores.

source: upi.com

Gaudy Christmas sweaters make a comeback

Retailers including boutique chain Kitson, based in Los Angeles, said ugly Christmas sweaters have made a comeback as ironic duds for younger generations.

Fraser Ross, owner of Kitson, said ugly Christmas sweater parties are filling the holiday void once occupied by tree trimming parties, as people in their 20s and 30s embrace the garishly decorated garments as humorous ways to celebrate the season, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

"It's the new theme for hostesses who are trying to bring the mostest to holiday parties," he said. "It's like having a Halloween party during Christmas."

Evan Mendelsohn, co-founder of San Diego clothing brand Tipsy Elves, said ugly Christmas sweaters -- including playful depictions of conga-dancing reindeer, and Santa spelling "Merry Christmas" in the snow with his urine -- are proving to be holiday bestsellers.

"The majority of people buying are in their 20s or 30s who are sort of making light of what can be a serious holiday. It gives them an excuse to wear something funny," Mendelsohn said. "It's not going to die like a normal fashion trend."

Carin Agiman, owner of Berkeley, Calif., clothing label GeltFiend, said he launched a line of Hanukkah equivalents for the ugly Christmas sweaters to let Jewish revelers get in on the fun.

His brand includes a sweater picturing Hasidic snowmen and a dreidel cardigan.

"I have a lot of non-Jewish friends, so I get invited to a lot of ugly Christmas sweater parties," Agiman said. "There's been a lot of pent-up Jewish angst over not having some equivalent ugliness."

source: upi.com

U.S. banking officials see recovery

Officials at U.S. banks said the industry is recovering, with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s "problem list" shrinking to fewer than 700 banks.

Industry leaders said the list shrank to fewer than 700 banks for the first time in three years, and only about half the number of bank failures recorded in 2011 are expected for 2012, The Washington Times reported Tuesday.

David Stevens, president and chief executive officer of the Mortgage Bankers Association, said the lenders that caused the most damage in the lead-up to the 2008 global financial crisis have been forced out of the market, allowing the industry to recover.

However, he said officials in Washington do not fully appreciate the recovery.

"I bristle when I hear these polarizing extremes: 'The banks are all bad, let's hang them from the highest rafters,'" Stevens said.

Dick Bove, a bank analyst with Rafferty Capital Markets, said banks are strengthening as the economy recovers.

"Everyone has done nothing but beat on the banks for the havoc they caused," he said. "It's not very well understood that banks in the United States are extraordinarily profitable right now and have been growing for the last few years."

source: upi.com

‘Hobbit’ fever beats Tom Cruise at box office

LOS ANGELES – The dwarfs and elves of “The Hobbit” overpowered Tom Cruise to take the box office title for a second time, grabbing $37.6 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales as a crowd of new films fought for pre-holiday audiences.

Cruise’s crime drama “Jack Reacher,” a film about a fatal sniper attack, landed in second place with $15.6 million. In third place, adult comedy “This is 40″ pulled in $12 million, according to studio estimates compiled by Reuters on Sunday.

Domestic ticket sales for “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” fell by about 57 percent during the film’s second weekend. Movie receipts typically drop 40 percent to 60 percent each week.

In international markets, “Hobbit” sales reached $284 million and brought the movie’s global take to $434 million, distributor Warner Bros. said.

“The Hobbit” is the first of three movies based on the classic J.R.R. Tolkien novel set in the fantasy world of Middle Earth. The films, produced by MGM and Warner Bros.’ New Line Cinema, are prequels to the blockbuster “Lord of the Rings” franchise that brought in box office gold a decade ago.

Producers of “The Hobbit” and other films hope to enjoy a big boost this week around the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. The current crop will face competition starting on Tuesday, Christmas Day, from Quentin Tarantino’s Western “Django Unchained,” musical “Les Miserables” and comedy “Parental Guidance.”

Sales over the coming days are expected to push 2012 to a domestic box office record. The year is on track to finish with $10.8 billion worth of ticket sales in the North American (U.S. and Canadian) market, according to a projection from box office tracker Hollywood.com. The current record is $10.6 billion, set in 2009.

Over the weekend, “Jack Reacher” debuted just days after the Newtown, Connecticut, school shooting sparked new debate about the impact of movie violence. “Reacher” begins with a sniper killing a handful of seemingly random victims. A red-carpet premiere and a screening to promote the $60-million production were postponed after the Newtown tragedy.

“We opened pre-Christmas with our eyes wide open,” said Don Harris, Paramount’s president of domestic distribution, adding that he expected the film’s box office take to grow over the coming weeks. He said the Newtown shooting had “no effect” on the movie’s opening.

Before the weekend, the studio had predicted sales of $12 million to $15 million.

Adult comedy “This is 40″ stars Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann as a middle-aged couple. The studio billed the $35 million production from “Bridesmaids” producer Judd Apatow as a “sort-of sequel” to 2007 comedy “Knocked Up.”

The president of domestic distribution for Universal, Nikki Rocco, said the film exceeded the studio’s estimates for opening prior to a mid-week Christmas, and dismissed talk of a Judd Apatow slump since his comedy “Bridesmaids,” which opened to $26.3 million in May 2011.

“Adults have choices at this time of year,” Rocco said, citing the broad slate of films already on

offer and those opening on Christmas day.

Comedy “The Guilt Trip,” starring Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogen as a mother and son on a cross-country drive, pulled in $5.4 million over three days. The movie opened two days before the weekend, on Wednesday, scoring a five-day total of $7.4 million.

Also this weekend, Walt Disney Co re-released 2001 animated Pixar hit “Monsters Inc” in 3D. The movie earned $5 million at domestic theaters. Next June, Disney is releasing a prequel to the film called “Monsters University.”

Another new release, the 3D “Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away,” with performances by the famous acrobatic troupe, earned $2.1 million.

In five theaters in New York and Los Angeles, thriller “Zero Dark Thirty” about the hunt for Osama bin Laden grossed $410,000 in what box office analyst for Hollywood.com Paul Dergarabedian

described as a “huge limited release start for the film.”

The movie, considered an Oscar contender, will expand nationwide on January 11.

“The Hobbit” was distributed by Time Warner Inc’s Warner Bros. studio. Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc, released “Jack Reacher,” “The Guilt Trip” and “Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away.” Comcast Corp’s Universal Studios released “This is 40,” and Sony Corp’s film studio distributed “Zero Dark Thirty.”

source: interaksyon.com

Confirmed: Jessica Simpson Expecting Second Child

It’s official: the stork is once again headed to Jessica Simpson‘s house!

Just seven months after the singer and actress delivered daughter Maxwell Drew, Simpson and fiancé Eric Johnson are expecting their second child, the couple announced via Twitter Christmas Day.

Amid growing pregnancy speculation online, the Fashion Star mentor, 32, shared a photo of her baby girl wearing holiday pajamas and smiling in the sand atop the words, “BIG SIS.”

“Merry Christmas from my family to yours!” Simpson writes.

Recently, Simpson has been spotted around Los Angeles in loose-fitting clothing. She also appeared, in a figure-hugging black dress, at best friend Cacee Cobb‘s recent wedding to Donald Faison, where she served as maid of honor.

Simpson also had been touting her recent post-pregnancy weight loss of 60 lbs. after starring in commercials for Weight Watchers and working out with celebrity trainer Harley Pasternak.

– Andrea Billups and Sarah Michaud

source: people.com

Purefoods eyes 10 pct growth in 2013

MANILA - The food unit of San Miguel Corp expects sales to grow by at least a tenth next year as it seeks to enter new segments, a ranking executive told InterAksyon.com.

Francisco Alejo III, San Miguel Pure Foods Co Inc president, said the manufacturer is optimistic about its prospects and that of the industry on strong consumer and election-related spending.

"If you look at per capita consumption of pork, chicken and even of dairy products, they are relatively low compared to our neighboring Asean countries so there's a lot of opportunity for increased consumption and we think that's going to happen next year," said Alejo.

Consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of the country’s gross domestic product, rose 6.2 percent in the third quarter, helping fuel the 7.1 percent GDP growth in the same period.

Alejo said Purefoods’ value-added meats business consisting of refrigerated processed meat and canned meat will drive the company’s growth next year. Its other business segments are agro-industrial (feeds, poultry and fresh meats), milling (flour products), dairy, spreads, oil and coffee. The company is also engaged in food service and franchising.

"The commodity business - pork, poultry, beef and flour - we still see them growing, but I think the driver will be in the value-added business. You're seeing growth driven by processed meat, dairy, coffee and other value-added products which is good for us because that commands better margin," said Alejo.

Purefoods is also gearing up for new and "bigger" segments of the value-added segment through green field projects and acquisitions, Alejo said without elaborating.

"We are very serious in looking at other categories, but more in the value added segment," he said.

Purefoods' consolidated revenues grew 8 percent year-on-year to P69.4 billion in the first 9 months on the back of higher sales volume in almost all businesses. The company attributed this to marketing activities, new product introductions, improved distribution network and a "slight" increase in selling prices.

Purefoods' net attributable earnings to equity holders inched up to P2.96 billion at end-September from P2.94 billion the previous year.

Alejo said any increase in prices will depend on the behavior of commodity prices, particularly cassava and corn.

"We are dependent on cassava. This year there was limitation in supply, but we see next year there can be an improvement in prices of cassava. We hope prices of corn will be positive as Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala has been reporting productivity has increased," Alejo said.

Besides its flagship brand, Purefoods holds several food brands in its portfolio, including Magnolia, Monterey, Star, Dari Creme, B-Meg, and JellYace.

source: interaksyon.com

Christmas provides Connecticut town a break from mourning

NEWTOWN, Connecticut - Christmas has helped the grieving Connecticut town of Newtown cope a little better with the shooting tragedy earlier this month, and allowed some people to finally smile.

Though more somber than a typical Christmas, the holiday has given Newtown a respite from the mourning. All the funerals for the victims have concluded.

"We're getting through this with our faith and our prayer. People are smiling a little more now," said John Barry, owner of an information technology staffing company. "The week was so horrible. Now it's time to celebrate Christmas."

This largely Christian town was shaken on the morning of December 14, when a 20-year-old gunman armed with a military-style assault rifle shot dead 20 children aged 6 and 7 and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School. It was the second deadliest school shooting in US history.

Little is known about the shooter, Adam Lanza, who also killed his mother before the rampage and later himself to create a death toll of 28 in a tragedy that has revitalized the debate over US gun control laws.

The sadness has moved some to act. Makeshift monuments to the dead have popped up all over town, funds have been raised, and many visitors have made a pilgrimage to Newtown, offering support.

Husband and wife Dan and Michelle McAloon of Newtown decided to go Christmas caroling this year for the first time, gathering other families and children to roam a neighborhood where the families of three victims live.

"We were just spreading some cheer, trying to make the situation a little better," Michelle McAloon said.

"They all smiled, and they all cried a little," she said of the victims' families.

"Everybody said we are doing it again next year," Dan McAloon said of the carolers. "It's going to become a tradition."

The McAloons and Barry were among those in an overflow crowd that attended Christmas Eve Mass on Monday night at Saint Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church, which held its biggest service at the high school auditorium.

Nine families from the parish lost someone in the shooting, and at least four of those families came to the big Christmas Eve Mass, Monsignor Robert Weiss said.

"Everything is just a lot more somber. Some people are just going through the motions because it's Christmas. Others are trying to make it special," Weiss said after the service.

"There is reason to celebrate. Hopefully when people start to see their extended families, or people from outside of Newtown, or even go out of town, they will be able to. You can't get away from it in this town," he said.

Christmas Eve Mass featured a pageant that told the Christian story of Jesus' birth. One of the more poignant moments came when people applauded a group of two dozen little girls dressed as angels. They all knew shooting victim Olivia Engel, 6, was supposed to be among them.

"I highly recommend that before you rip open those gifts, say a prayer for those children," Weiss told parishioners. "Then give your own children a hug."

source: interaksyon.com

Storm brings white Christmas, tornado threat to central US

WASHINGTON - A major winter storm brought a rare white Christmas to the southern US plains on Tuesday, contributing to a 21-vehicle pile-up that shut down a major highway in Oklahoma.

The storm system surging east from Kansas and the Texas Panhandle includes the threat of tornados and severe thunderstorms along its southern fringe, from southeast Texas to Alabama, the National Weather Service said.

The storm is expected to bring blizzard conditions and 6 to 8 inches of snow as it strengthens and moves northeast into the upper Ohio River valley through southern Missouri and Illinois, it said.

Freezing drizzle overnight led to 10 separate collisions on Interstate 40 at Oklahoma City just before 3 a.m., said Trooper Betsy Randolph, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

The 21-vehicle pile-up included three tractor-trailers and shut down the westbound lanes for about five hours, she said. Twelve people were taken to hospitals, and troopers are checking on the severity of their injuries.

In a rare taste of Christmas snow, Oklahoma City is forecast to get 3 to 6 inches of the white stuff on Tuesday. The city's biggest Christmas snowfall was 6.5 inches in 1914, and measurable amounts have been recorded only a handful of times on the date.

Several flights were canceled at Oklahoma City's Will Rogers World Airport on Monday ahead of the storm, but conditions on Tuesday morning were good, the airport said in a statement.

Ahead of the storm's path, parts of eastern West Virginia are under a winter storm warning. Ice accumulations of up to half an inch are expected in higher elevations, the National Weather Service said.

source: interaksyon.com

How to Determine How Much to Give

 Dear Dave,

We’re debt-free except for our house, and that’s on a 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage. We also have an emergency fund in place. We’d like to give back this year, and do some Secret Santa things and a little extra giving. At what point should we start giving over and above what we tithe?

-Jeremy




Dear Jeremy,

My advice would be to wait until you finish Baby Step 3, which it sounds like you’ve done. That way, you’ve paid off all of your debt, except the house, plus you have a fully-funded emergency fund of three to six months of expenses.

You mentioned tithing, so I’ll cite the Scripture that says he who doesn’t take care of his family is worse than an unbeliever. I’m paraphrasing, of course, but in my mind, from a financial point of view, taking care of your family means having your emergency fund in place and being out of debt, except for your house. At that stage, you’re beginning to build wealth and you can really help others while knowing those closest to you aren’t going without.

My wife and I made the decision a long time ago to live on a certain amount of money. We apply a formula to everything above that figure for tithing and taxes. The rest we allocate for giving, saving and spending. It works great for us, but be responsible and realistic with what you have. You don’t want one of those areas to hinder the others.

-Dave

Dear Dave,

Do you have any advice for deciding which charities to give money to during the holidays?

-Danny

Dear Danny,

There are so many great organizations out there. It’s virtually impossible to pick three or four and say with any certainty they’re the best.

When it comes to choosing, I think the amount of diligence you put into the decision-making process should correspond directly to the amount of money you’re giving. There’s no reason to spend hours in exhaustive study over a $20 donation. However, you’d want to put some time and thought into research if the amount is $2,000.

In situations like this, I’d want to see full disclosure. I’d like to know the expense ratios of the organization and how much money goes toward administrative costs. Every organization has bills to pay and salaries to consider, but you don’t want overhead to eat up 90 percent of every dollar donated.

Helping a good cause is wonderful, but you’ve got to be reasonable and wise about these things. Don’t feel bad about asking to visit a site and take a tour. Lots of times you can get a feel for what’s going on by just walking around and gauging the people you encounter. Regardless, the bigger the gift, the more time you should spend investigating!

—Dave

source: foxbusiness.com

Enjoy Christmas

Christmas! What is there to say that I have not said? This will be my 68th Christmas. All the spirit, joy, sorrow, shopping, fun, rituals, kisses, bites, everything that a person must go through, I have gone through. What is there to say about this Christmas that will make it different from years past?

I am not really ready for this season. Instead I’ve been working on getting jewelry done for delivery and am not sure I will finish but — so what? Nobody will die. My Christmas presents, such as they are, are piled on my dining room table, which, at any rate, is too long for the single person who eats there every day at least twice. So one end is reserved for my eating space. The rest is clutter space. And that space is full.

I don’t even have a Christmas list, very inefficient of me. But I don’t have the spirit and even that doesn’t bother me. I know I will get things together. If we live through today, I will have time to get the gifts done and delivered maybe on time for Christmas or maybe the day after Christmas. So what if I’m late? I can deliver gifts until the feast of the Epiphany, which is the Sunday after New Year, which strangely next year is January 6, as it was traditionally.

When I was small the feast of the Three Kings was one I really looked forward to. My mother would tell me to take three pairs of my favorite shoes and put them on the window sill. I would shine them to make sure they were clean and pretty. In the morning I would wake up delighted to find them filled with candy, plastic balloon, all sorts of little delightful things.

Maybe I should have kept my childhood beliefs — Santa Claus, the Three Kings, Ratoncito Perez, my mom’s version of the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny. They gave me the holiday spirit. Christmas was always something I genuinely looked forward to because of Santa, who would always bring me the gifts I desired most. He would write on a card in his odd large penmanship and wrap his gifts differently from my mommy’s gifts. He was quite a guy. He and the Three Kings filled my little life with Christmas spirit. But when you’re old and the grandmother of adults — where is the joy?

I remember when my eldest daughter dashed my dreams of perpetuating the Easter Bunny with her son, my oldest grandson. She had turned Christian when he was small. I was so excited about making Easter eggs when she stopped me and said it was not allowed in their church. Huh? Why not? It’s a very charming ritual and I love painting the eggs. No, Mom, I’m sorry, she said, but my son can’t believe in the Easter Bunny. That son is 28 now.


Ah, but there is the joy! This year for the first time the four children of my eldest daughter will be home for Christmas. They will join us for lunch at my youngest daughter’s house. We will roast a turkey. I will teach my daughter how to roast a turkey. That thought excites me. I have made a mental list of the things I will need. I will get them on December 23 and bring them on the 24th.

Once upon a time I was the roaster of turkeys. I have made them every way imaginable because once upon a time I was a very good cook. I would make them traditionally stuffed with a mixture of pork and beef bound with rice, raisins, chestnuts, celery and carrots. Once in the States I decided to stuff the turkey with fruit and to baste it with hoisin sauce. That was quite delicious. Now the children have grown and flown and so have some grandchildren. I think the last time I roasted a turkey for Christmas was 17 years ago, the year my grandson Julian was born. That was the last happy Christmas I remember us having.

Until this year, I hope, when we will mostly be together again. Now I have gotten myself excited not over the holidays but over seeing my grandchildren again. They are tall, handsome and the girl is lovely. I will take her shopping after Christmas and buy her things she might want to take back. I will love all of them and shower them with whatever goodies I can think of starting but not ending with the turkey, which their aunt will roast. I will simply teach.

That is the wonder of Christmas this year that I had somehow managed to forget until I had to write this article. My three grandchildren, who are usually not here, will be here. I will see them for a while but I love them dearly whether they are near or far.

source: philstar.com

An Experiment in De-Commercializing the Holidays

The average U.S. Consumer is planning to spend $750 on gifts this year, in addition to a few hundred spent on themselves while combing through all of those unbelievable deals.

Exorbitant holiday gift spending is as American as apple pie, but it is one tradition that we would be better off for if it were to go the way of the dodo.

The reality is Black Friday, the wonderful new Black Thanksgiving, and the ensuing weeks are really just “open season” on our bank accounts. We think we’re the ones doing the hunting – but sometimes the hunter becomes the hunted.

I appreciate the value of giving something of sentimental significance. I also am a big fan of giving gifts that save money. Or gifts that give an experience to enjoy.

But the large majority of holiday spending does not come in these forms. It comes in the form of buying others a bunch of crap off of their wish list (in which case they should buy themselves) or crap you think they want (which they probably don’t). It’s a terribly inefficient process. No matter how accurate your gifter is, they could never be as efficient as you are in buying only the stuff that you need, and vice versa.

So the holidays become this inefficient commercial exchange that leaves everyone with a bunch of stuff that has no sentimental value, no use, and the resulting guilt.




The No Gift Proposition

Back in 2009, I proposed cutting off holiday gifting between my wife and I. She was 100% in agreement.

We then started a quest to de-commercialize the holidays (and birthdays) in our families.

We told them that we wanted to de-clutter our lives and of our desire for the holidays to be more about the tradition of spending time together versus consumption and the associated stress and waste. We wanted it to be Thanksgiving: Part 2 (the pre-Black Thanksgiving version). Food, drink, family, and relaxation! And we wanted our birthdays to be the same way.

At the time, the idea just didn’t catch on. My side of the family said they liked the idea, but then went ahead and bought some crap anyways (probably out of guilt or habit). Her side of the family couldn’t comprehend it, and we felt somewhat resigned to defeat.

But we kept spreading the message.

The New Tradition

Three holiday seasons later, the picture has completely changed.

Last year saw no gifting on my side of the family, with the exception of a few bottles of wine and some food.

On my wife’s side of the family, we’ve turned git giving in to a combination of donating to a local charity and a white elephant exchange.

Gone are wish lists, gift cards, and all the stuff.

In effect, we’ve started a new tradition. And no one seems to miss the old one. In fact, something about the white elephant makes it much more fun and rewarding than traditional gift giving.

In the process, our families have increased our collective net worth by thousands, we have less clutter, less stress, and a more satisfying time together.

Even if unpopular and first met with resistance, some new traditions are worth starting.

No-Gift Discussion:

• Have you pursued a similar idea with your family? What was their reaction?
• If you’ve been successful in de-commercializing the holidays, do you have any recommendations for others interested in doing the same?

source: 20somethingfinance.com

How I Scored a Lifetime of Massage, Physical Therapy, & Chiropractor Work for Just $60

It was a normal mid-summer day. I jogged about two miles in to work, did a few situps when I got there, slaved away at my desk for 9 hours, then jogged home.

Throughout the day, I noticed a spot in my lower back getting tight. Did I pull something during the situps, I wondered? The subsequent jog home loosened the spot up a bit and everything seemed fine.

After arriving home, things took a turn for the worse as my back started tightening up again.

By the end of the day, I was reduced to crawling from one room to the next. The pain was so excruciating that I could not stand up and walk.

The entire next day, much of the same. I hobbled around the office hunched over, dragging one leg behind me. By this point, my entire back had seized up around the original problem spot. If I could have crawled around the office without creating a scene, I would have. Sitting at a desk all damn day certainly wasn’t helping the situation.

That afternoon, I booked an emergency massage appointment. One hour later and $50 poorer, I left defeated. Despite the massage therapists best efforts (she specializes in rehab and sports massage, btw), my condition had only slightly improved. An hour after that, it was like I hadn’t even gone at all.

That night I tried heat, cold, stretching, lying on soft surfaces, lying on hard surfaces, walking… nothing seemed to work.

One day and zero improvement later, I ran in to a neighbor across the street and told him of my predicament.

 “Have you tried a foam roller?”

 “A what?, I replied.

“A high density foam roller. Here, let me go get one.”

<Neighbor returns with giant black foam cylinder that looked like something pulled out of a Chuck E. Cheese play pen>

“Go home and roll your back across this.”

Skeptical, I returned home at snail’s pace.

Then I tried it.

After about 5 minutes of rolling and stretching my back across the roller, I stood up. What happened next was completely shocking. I walked across my living room, normal gait, with ZERO pain. WTF?! Encouraged, I spent another 5 minutes rolling. Then immediately went on a half hour walk with my wife and the dog, with no pain.

3 days of down time, an hour long massage, hours of ice, heat, and stretching had negligible, if any impact. 10 minutes on an inanimate piece of foam? Problem solved. The instant dramatic turn-around resembled something out of a healing-power televangelist scene in a movie.

A believer, I promptly rushed to Amazon and bought a super high density foam roller of my own – this one, specifically. I have tried a few others since and STRONGLY recommend the super high density (black), 36-inch, full-round version. The black foam represents the highest density, offering the most resistance on your body and best results. Once you go black foam roller, you never go back (or so I hear).

A number of manufacturers make them and foam is a readily available commodity, so they are cheap. My cost at the time? $30.

I have since used the foam roller before work, after work, and before bed – every single day. I have notoriously bad posture, sit at a desk all day, have a horrible kink in my neck, and have some hip alignment problems from heel striking when running. The foam roller addresses all those problems and occasional tension in my calves from cycling or arms from working out.

After much research, I have since paired it with a Body Back Buddy, which presents similar self-generated results for acute spots that a foam roller can’t put enough pressure on. I start with the foam roller and end with the Back Buddy. And now I recommend them to anyone I come across who has back, leg, or hip pain. Judging by its looks, it probably has some alternative uses as well.

Point here is not to diminish the work many fine massage or physical therapists perform or that these two tools can cure all physical ills. And as you know, I’m not a proponent of most “stuff”. There are numerous exceptions, however, that can lead to better health, better environment, and better finances. These tools are a great example of how a small strategic investment can produce a lifetime of savings. And all it took was a little creative exploration. Oh… and I’m not a doctor, but you already knew that.

source: 20somethingfinance.com

Time to get stylish in go-anywhere Veloci watches

MANILA, Philippines - Veloci, an Italian-inspired watch collection that gives new life to iconic silhouettes of classic timepieces, recently announced its entry in the Philippine market with its Voyager and Cruise watch collection. The two collections come in a myriad of fashionable colors that allow you to build or layer your outfit using the watch as your color inspiration for just about any ocassion. A Veloci watch comes with two alternative watch straps. Known as the “go-anywhere dependable” watch, Veloci timepieces all have stainless steel watch cases, high-grade Japanese movements and high-quality nylon straps. For more information on Veloci watches you can check them out in various Asprey stores and selected L Timestudio boutiques and Time Gear boutiques, or like www.facebook.com/Asprey.ph.

source: philstar.com

A kiddie Christmas at Rustan’s

MANILA, Philippines - Kids and kids-at-heart will jump for joy at Rustan’s Department Store’s carefully selected roster of labels, toys and collector’s pieces from classic children’s collectors items to creative finds like Adora Dolls, Gund, Autoart Traxx, House of Marbles, Stephen Joseph, Lamaze and Kid Kraft, one is sure to find the perfect present that will bring unforgettable joy to your little loved ones.

For irresistibly cute outfits and heart-melting style statements,  Rustan’s in-house brand Kiddos has colorful and smart designs this season, while its latest addition, the Spanish brand Neck & Neck, goes strong with prints and give layering a new spin.

Have your children whisper their sweet wishes and finish their Christmas wish list with Santa Claus as he makes a weekly appearance on weekends at Rustan’s. Rustan’s is giving away Krispy Kreme goodies every day from Dec. 13 to 24 from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.

As a thank you to its shoppers and in keeping with its eco-conscious sensibilities, Rustan’s is giving away until Jan. 5, 2013 the revolutionary LED Magic Bulb, an eco-friendly rechargeable light bulb that stays on even in a blackout and doubles as a flashlight.

To redeem the Magic Bulb, you must collect three stamps and exchange the completed stamp card for the gift. One stamp will given for every P5,000 single-receipt purchase at Rustan’s during the promo period.

For more gift selections visit and inquire at any of the Rustan’s Department Store branches: Rustan’s Makati, 813-3739; Rustan’s Shangri-La, 633-4636; Rustan’s Alabang, 850-5532; Rustan’s Gateway, 911-2401.

source: philstar.com

Say hello to Santa

MANILA, Philippines - It makes sense to give the special people in your life today’s most stunning, best-performing smartphones. To fulfill the deepest desires of those closest to you, why not present them something amazing that communicates how special they are to you and at the same time fits their multimedia lifestyle?

 

 

Why not consider an HTC smartphone?

Amazing camera and audio experience: The HTC One X

For your audiophile and photo buff brother, get this unit that boasts of clear graphics, remarkable picture quality, fast applications, thanks to the powerful quad-core processor. With Beats Audio and long battery life, HTC One X features a beautifully-crafted polycarbonate unibody that has the ruggedness of metal but is super lightweight. It comes with ImageSense Technology, a new suite of camera and imaging features for better user experience. Take photos in just 0.7 seconds, autofocus in 0.2 seconds. It can snap multiple images using the continuous shooting mode, record the action as film and simultaneously take hi-res still shots, even in low light, no light or bright backlight. 

 

Slim, stunning and super-fast:

HTC One S

For your trendy, friendly sister,  this handset is jam-packed with everything she needs for all things social.. The thinnest smartphone from HTC, with a hi-res 4.3-inch screen, HTC One S boasts a unibody design in never-before-seen matte Ceramic Black and Gradient Silver finishes, with a smooth surface that’s soft to the touch yet is super scratch-resistant. Beneath the impressive style is a dual-core processor. ImageSense Technology gives its 8MP cam super-fast autofocus and image capture, continuous shooting and side-by-side photo and video capture. Plus, sharing happens with just a tap of the screen. It integrates Beats Audio for authentic, studio-quality sound. 

Best-rated Android phone on the market: HTC One X+

More is more — and that’s exactly what’s perfect for your top executive dad. Running the HTC Sense 4+ on Android Jelly Bean, the HTC One X+ takes everything to a new level with increased performance, longer battery life and expanded internal storage at 64GB — the most offered by any smartphone today. Featuring a 1.7GHz quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 AP37 processor, HTC One X+ enables lightning-fast web browsing, fluid gaming and graphic rendering, and speedy downloads. Aside from having Image Sense, it features the newly launched Self-Portrait mode on the front camera which applies subtle enhancements to skin and eyes. 

A Windows phone: The HTC Windows Phone 8X

Go ahead, list down something incredible you can enjoy for yourself. The very recently unveiled HTC Windows Phone 8X runs on the innovative Windows Phone 8 operating system and boasts iconic design, studio-quality sound through Beats Audio, 4.3-inch HD super LCD 2 screen, and incredible camera capabilities. The only phone with Live Tiles, WP8X is perfectly sculpted with a dramatic taper to feel magically thin in your hand, and comes in sophisticated, adventurous colors in premium matte finish.

 source: philstar.com

The ultimate smartphone wish list

MANILA, Philippines - It’s that time OF the year again when we take a long, hard look at our current — and battered — phones and imagine a sleek and shiny new smartphone resting on our palms, courtesy of Santa (or any other generous benefactor).

But which phone should we pick? Well, 2012 has been the year of the smartphone so it’s inconceivable that we’d want anything else.

Here then is the cream of the smartphone crop. (There are no five-inch-or-bigger phone/tablets — also known as phablets — in this list as they are used more as computing tablets than as devices you’d actually want to make a call with.)

Apple iPhone 5

What gadget wish list can be complete without an iPhone? Apple’s iPhone 5 comes with a bigger screen and slimmer body that pundits swiftly labeled a no-brainer winner for the game-changing technology leviathan.


Dubbed by the Cupertino, California-based company as “the thinnest smartphone in the world,” the new iPhone 5 sports an upsized four-inch Retina display and a glass-and-aluminum body that is 18 percent thinner and 20 percent lighter than its iPhone 4S predecessor.

The new iPhone 5 measures a slender 7.6-mm thin (58.6-mm wide and 123.8-mm high) and weighs just 112 grams. It comes in either black and slate or white and silver.

Like the iPhone 4S, the newest Apple smartphone comes in 16-, 32- and 64GB models. It has an autofocus 8MP iSight camera with LED flash and HD video recording capability at 30 fps. The Retina display has a pixel resolution of 1136 x 640 at 326 ppi.

The new handset features Apple’s own new A6 processor, which is claimed to double the speed for loading Web graphics. Battery life, a perennial bane of smartphones, is likewise claimed to have been extended to eight hours with mobile phone and browsing and 10 hours if Wi-Fi connections are used.

Apple also further improved Siri, its pioneering voice-activated assistant, while developing a state-of-the-art mapping program, and — seemingly impossible — managing to even more tightly integrate Facebook into the user interface.


                                                         HTC Windows Phone 8X

The Windows Phone 8X is HTC’s first signature Windows phone. This P28,800 smartphone features the new Windows Phone 8 operating system and boasts iconic design, studio-quality Beats Audio, and superb camera capabilities.

Boasting the eye-candy Live Tiles graphical user interface, the Windows Phone 8X blends the virtual and the physical utilizing a three-dimensional, pure unibody design based on the Windows Phone Live Tiles.

HTC applied bold, adventurous colors, including California blue and graphite black, in a premium matte finish to the 8X. And for the first time, HTC is introducing a 2.1MP, f/2.0 aperture, 88-degree ultra-wide-angle front-facing camera that allows up to four people and more to be captured at once. It also supports 1080p video capture.

The rear camera sports an 8MP sensor with backside-illumination for improved low-light performance, along with an f/2.0 aperture, 28-mm lens and the dedicated HTC ImageChip.

A physical shutter button makes it quick and easy to capture spontaneous action, even if the phone is locked.

The 8X features Beats Audio which offers a unique audio amplifier powering the 3.5-mm audio jack and the speaker, boosting the audio signal for studio-quality sound for music, games or video.

HTC’s new Windows Phone also features a stunning 4.3-inch HD-resolution super-LCD 2 screen resistant to everyday bumps and scrapes, thanks to its lightweight Gorilla Glass 2, while optical lamination reduces reflections and glare even under the sun.

                                                               HTC One X+

Running the HTC Sense 4+ experience on the latest Android OS, Jelly Bean, the P32,800 HTC One X+ combines the iconic design, amazing camera and authentic audio experience of the HTC One series with increased performance, longer battery life and expanded internal storage.

Featuring a 1.7 GHz quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 AP37 processor, the HTC One X+ is 27 percent faster than its predecessor, making it one of the fastest Android phones in the market in terms of quick Web browsing, fluid gaming and graphic rendering, and speedy downloads.

Its new Self Portrait mode captures high-quality photos by intuitively detecting the human face at various angles and applying subtle enhancements to skin and eyes.

Sightseeing mode lets users capture the moment — one touch of the power button bypasses the lock screen and launches directly into the camera. Two new views in Gallery display images and videos and group them according to where and when they were taken.

Beats Audio is also standard on the One X+. Making it easier to listen to music out loud, and through Sense 4+, the HTC One X+ introduces a new Tap and Go function, which allows you to connect and disconnect the phone and your music to Beats speakers’ when you tap them.

HTC Connect sets a new standard for streaming DLNA audio and video from the HTC One phone to platform-certified home entertainment systems from leading partners such as Pioneer.

HTC has also made it easier to share media content with friends and family with its HTC Media Link HD. Turn any HDMI-enabled TV into the big screen which can display your photos, videos, or anything else on your phone.

A new digital photo frame feature can save and display up to 30 photos in slide show mode.



                                                                LG Optimus G

The flagship smartphone from LG houses an expansive 4.7-inch True HD-IPS LCD touch screen, a whopping 13MP camera with autofocus and LED flash, and a generous 2GB of RAM that does wonders for multitasking. This high-performance quad-core 1.5GHz Krait-powered smartphone runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) OS.



                                                              Motorola RAZR i

Motorola may have been out of the spotlight for some time, but that doesn’t mean it has lost its spot in the mobile market race. Now owned by Google, Motorola Mobility can now offer consumers more devices that combine Motorola’s hardware expertise with Google’s cutting-edge software innovations.

Case in point: the firstborn in this marriage — the Motorola RAZR i. It’s about the same size as an iPhone 5 at 4.8 x 2.4 x 0.3 inches. Unlike the iPhone, however, the RAZR i has less bezel and more screen. It features edge-to-edge display with practically no border for its Super AMOLED 4.3-inch screen.

The RAZR i is also designed to be tough with a DuPont KEVLAR back, diamond-cut aircraft-grade aluminum frame and Gorilla Glass. It’s also protected with a splash-guard coating. The coating even helps protect the electrical board inside, making it perfect for clumsy folk.

At the time of its US release, the RAZR i was powered by Android 4.0 ICS, but it’s upgradable to Jelly Bean.

Thanks to Intel’s Atom processor, the RAZR i is the first smartphone that can reach speeds of 2.0GHz. Its 8MP camera has a multi-shot mode that lets users take 10 pictures in less than a second. It also has an illuminated sensor at the back and HDR capabilities.     



                                                         Nokia Lumia 920

A higher evolution of the Lumia 800 and 900 Windows 8 smartphones, the Lumia 920 is big and hardy and quite possibly the most solid smartphone in the market.

Encased in lightweight but high-strength polycarbonate and sporting a Gorilla Glass display, the Lumia 920’s tank-like case can withstand incredible stress and the kind of abuse that would snap lesser smartphones in two.

Nokia even improved the material used to encase the Carl Zeiss lens and the buttons. It is now a Ceramic-Zirconia finish which looks like aluminum but can survive scratching.

It runs on a dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon processor and boasts a superb 8.7MP PureView camera with a floating lens, TrueBlack HD display, and a rich selection of apps (navigation, camera, transport).

The large 4.5-inch screen is gorgeous and is easily one of the best out there. It even offers inductive charging.



                                                        Samsung Galaxy S III
It’s dubbed as the iPhone killer. And judging from a lengthy list of heavy-hitting specs, perhaps it really doesn’t take a genius to see how the Samsung Galaxy S III sits at the top of the smartphone food chain.

It all starts with an expansive 4.8-inch High-Definition Super AMOLED screen that’s pure eye candy. It boasts a 1280 x 720 HD resolution and Full HD 1080p video recording.

The Galaxy S III’s innovative Smart Stay feature is smart enough to recognize how you are using the phone (i.e. browsing the Web or reading an e-book) by having the front camera identify your eyes. The phone maintains a bright display as long as your eyes are focused on the screen. Once your eyes look elsewhere for a given amount of time, the screen goes on sleep mode to save battery.

Then there’s S Voice, an advanced and intuitive natural-language voice-command user interface that listens and responds to your words. With S Voice, you can tell the phone to wake up, answer a call, or even take a photo — all via voice commands.

Aside from recognizing your face, eyes and voice, the Galaxy S III also understands your motions. If you are messaging someone but decide to call them instead, simply lifting your phone to your ear will dial their number. The Smart Alert, meanwhile, makes the phone vibrate to notify missed calls and messages.

A superb-shooting 8MP main camera and a 1.9MP front camera come with intelligent features and face recognition-related options like Tilt to Zoom, Palm Swipe Capture, and Best Photo, which picks the best out of eight continuous shots.

The Pop-up Play feature, meanwhile, allows you to watch videos anywhere on the wide screen while you perform other tasks like emailing or texting. It even has Picture In Picture.

Samsung claims up to a whopping 790 hours of standby time and a bill-shocking 11.4 hours of talk time for this handy (it weighs only 4.7 ounces) yet power-packed device. Unique among the flagship smartphones now on the market, the Samsung Galaxy S III sports a removable battery for easier serviceability.

The Galaxy S III runs on the Android 4.0 ICS OS and is available with either 16GB or 32GB user memory (64GB is going to be available soon) with an option for expansion up to a 64GB microSD card.

It’s also LTE-enabled, which means that it’s compatible with the cutting-edge ultra-fast fourth-generation of mobile connectivity, Long Term Evolution. All sorts of operations and apps run smoothly and swiftly thanks to its fast 2GB of RAM.

The Galaxy S III is also Near Field Communication-ready. Other exclusive and state-of-the-art features of the Samsung Galaxy S III include S-Beam (which lets you transfer pictures, music, videos and more from one Galaxy S III to another simply by placing them back to back), ShareShot, Group Cast, Direct Call, Palm Touch Mute Pause, Turn Over to Mute, and a really cool feature called Shake to Update.



                                                           Samsung ATIV S

Samsung’s Windows Phone 8-running ATIV S has the look and feel of a Galaxy S III — even the unlock screen is the same. The sturdy-feeling aluminum-bodied ATIV S, with its largest-in-class 4.7-inch AMOLED screen, really brings WP8 to life.

It has yet to reach local availability, but the ATIV S looks like a great Windows Phone 8 option, especially with its slim form factor, powerful and advanced features, and a long-life battery.

                                                     Sony Xperia acro S

The Xperia acro S (available in black or white) is a fitting option for discerning photography and video enthusiasts. This sleek and handsome smartphone boasts of a 4.3-inch scratch-resistant HD display powered by Sony’s Mobile BRAVIA Engine, a stunning 12MP(!) fast-capture camera, and full 1080p HD video-recording capabilities.

It also features quick and seamless connectivity via an HDMI port for easy multimedia viewing on the big screen, as well as built-in Sony media apps (Album, Walkman, and Movies) for the user’s enjoyment.

The Xperia acro S offers the highest level of water-resistance in an HD smartphone, making it an extremely durable option for today’s active individuals. It even features Wet Finger Tracking, allowing one to use the phone even with wet fingers.

The P26,990 Xperia acro S runs with a 1.5GHz dual-core processor on Android 4.0 ICS.



For those on a budget

Just because it’s on a wish list doesn’t mean it has to be expensive. For those who are into budget gadgets, there are three smartphones that deliver just about as much smarts as the preceding flagship phones but without breaking the bank.



                                                          Cherry Mobile Flare

Cherry Mobile’s Flare may come with an extremely low price — P3,990 — but that doesn’t stop it from having some serious smartphone specs.

It’s got a Qualcomm MSM8625 Snapdragon S4 1.2GHz dual-core processor, an Adreno 203 GPU, a 4.0-inch IPS capacitive touch panel, 512MB RAM, 4GB internal storage (expandable up to 32GB via microSD card), 3G/HSDPA/Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity, Wi-Fi hotspot capability, GPS with aGPS support, dual-SIM functionality, Dual-Standby, a 5MP rear camera with flash, and a VGA front camera.

The Flare runs on Android 4.0 ICS. It has a 1500mAh battery and weighs 152 grams.



                                                         MyPhone A878 Duo

The P6,999 dual-SIM triband MyPhone A878 Duo boasts fast performance, a 5MP autofocus camera with LED flash, a large and vivid 4.3-inch capacitive touch screen, and Android 4.0 ICS.

It’s even got EDGE and Wi-Fi connectivity, a Motion Sensor, GPS, an FM/MP3/MP4 player, a microSD slot (up to 16GB), Bluetooth, USB, a 3.5-mm audio jack, and a built-in Pinoy Phone app.



                                                          Starmobile Astra

The Astra is Starmobile’s new Android smartphone. It runs on Android ICS and has fast processing power, thanks to a 1GHz dual-core processor and a powerVR GPU. The phone has an impressive 8MP rear camera with flash and autofocus.
The Starmobile Astra, which comes in black or white, has a 1500mAh battery, 4GB of internal memory, and up to 32GB of memory via MicroSD card.

But that’s not all: This smartphone has — hold your breath — a big 4.3-inch capacitive touch screen, Mobile TV, 3G, Wi-Fi, video calling, A-GPS, Bluetooth and more features than you can hold your breath to. It’s even dual-SIM! The clincher, of course, is the price — an unbelievably low P6,990.

source: philstar.com

Maya 'End of Days' Fever Reaches Climax in Mexico

CHICHEN ITZA, Mexico (Reuters) - Thousands of mystics, hippies and spiritual wanderers will descend on the ruins of Maya cities on Friday to celebrate a new cycle in the Maya calendar, ignoring fears in some quarters that it might instead herald the end of the world.



Brightly dressed indigenous Mexican dancers whooped and invoked a serpent god near the ruins of Chichen Itza late on Thursday, while meditating westerners hoped for the start of a "golden age" of humanity.

"I see it as a changing of an energy, the changing of a guard, the changing of universal consciousness," said Serg Miejylo, a 29-year-old gardener originally from Connecticut.

Wearing sandals, smoking a rolled-up cigarette and sporting blonde dreadlocks, Miejylo is among those joining the festivities at Maya sites in southern Mexico and parts of Central America.

But while people here were celebrating, the close of the 13th bak'tun - a period of some 400 years - in the 5,125-year-old Long Calendar of the Maya has raised fears among groups around the world that the end is nigh.

A U.S. scholar once said it could be seen as a kind of "Armageddon" by the illustrious Mesoamerican culture, and over time the idea snowballed into a belief that the Maya calendar had predicted the earth's destruction.

Fears of mass suicides, meteorites, huge power cuts, natural disasters, epidemics or an asteroid hurtling toward Earth have circulated on the Internet ahead of December 21.

Chinese police have arrested about 1,000 people this week for spreading rumors about December 21, and authorities in Argentina restricted access to a mountain popular with UFO-spotters after rumors began spreading that a mass suicide was planned there.

In Texas, video game mogul Richard Garriott de Cayeux decided to throw his most elaborate party ever at midnight - just in case the Earth did come to an end.

Maya experts, scientists and even U.S. space agency NASA insist the Maya did not predict the world's end and that there is nothing to worry about.

"Think of it like Y2K," said James Fitzsimmons, a Maya expert at Middlebury College in Vermont. "It's the end of one cycle and the beginning of another cycle."

A NEW DAWN?

New Age optimism, stream-of-consciousness evocations of wonder and awe, and starry-eyed dreams of extra-terrestrial contact have descended on the ancient sites this week - leaving the modern Maya bemused.

"It's pure Hollywood," said Luis Mis Rodriguez, 45, a Maya selling obsidian figurines and souvenirs shaped into knives like ones the Maya once used for human sacrifice.

In Chichen Itza, below a labyrinth of gray and white Maya pillars, a circle of some 40 tourists sat meditating silently on Thursday.

At one point, a woman in a pink shirt said "the golden age is truly golden" and asked the group to find a form of light to take them to another dimension. The meditation then resumed.

Moments earlier, indigenous dancers wearing white linen, bright feathers and beads shook maracas and the seed pod of the flame tree to the beat of drums at the foot of the Temple of serpent god Kukulkan, a focal point of Friday's celebrations.

"We ask all the brothers of the Earth that Kukulkan dominates the hearts of the entire world," said one of the dancers, raising his arms towards the sky.

The Maya civilization reached its peak between A.D. 250 and 900 when it ruled over large swathes of what is now southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras. The Maya developed hieroglyphic writing, an advanced astronomical system and a sophisticated calendar.

DOOMSDAY PREDICTIONS

There is a long tradition of calling time on the world.

Basing his calculations on prophetic readings of the Bible, the great scientist Isaac Newton once cited 2060 as a year when the planet would be destroyed.

U.S. preacher William Miller predicted that Jesus Christ would descend to Earth in October 1844 to purge mankind of its sins. When it didn't happen, his followers, known as the Millerites, refereed to the event as The Great Disappointment.

In 1997, 39 members of the Heaven's Gate cult, believing the world was about to be "recycled," committed suicide in San Diego to board an alien craft they said was trailing behind a comet.

More recently, American radio host Harold Camping predicted the world would end on May 21, 2011, later moving the date forward five months when the apocalypse failed to materialize.

Such thoughts were far from the minds on Friday of gaudily attired pilgrims to Chichen Itza seeking spiritual release.

"What I hope is that I let go of all the old belief system and all the past and I just enter into a new reality that is even better," said Flow Lesur, 48, a Frenchwoman now living in California who teaches underwater yoga in her spare time.

Faun Rouse, a 78-year-old visitor from Colorado, was thinking of a different kind of inner contentment when asked how she would mark the coming of a new epoch. "With a big steak and lobster dinner, then fly back on Saturday," she said. 

source: nytimes.com