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Monday, October 22, 2012

Our 24-Hour Extra Life Gaming Marathon Is Complete - Game Informer

Update: Game Informer's Extra Life team has successfully completed a 24-hour video game marathon for charity.?After quickly hitting our initial goal of $8,888, we set our sights on $11,111, of which we raised $10,569. We're ecstatic that this money will be going towards Minnesota's Gillette's Children's Specialty Health Care and other hospitals in the Children's Miracle Network. Thank you for watching our livestream, playing along, and supporting us with donations. It's not too late to donate now and help us hit our goal, even after the marathon has ended.

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Game Informer is no stranger to gaming marathons. We?ve set gaming marathon world records, for crying out loud. But this time we?re putting our raw talent to a good cause. The Game Informer community has teamed up with Extra Life to raise money for charity with a 24-hour gaming marathon.

On October 20, starting at 8:00 am central time, we?ll begin live-streaming video feed of the games we?re playing and us playing them. Some of us will be playing new, awesome releases like Resident Evil 6 or Dishonored. Others will be playing old favorites or leaving it up to our viewership to help decide.?

We also hope to incorporate some fun interactivity with anyone watching the marathon. Some ideas include rewarding big donators with the power to choose what game we play (anything but Overblood, please). Will you be kind, allowing us to play fantastic games current or past, or will you be cruel and subject us to broken, horrid video games? Our fate could be in your hands. Editor Ben Reeves, intern Jack Gardner, video editor Jason Oestreicher, and myself may also be competing in tournaments and speed runs against one another. We just plan on having a good time playing some awesome games. Other Game Informer staff may be joining our Extra Life team leading up to the marathon.

Speaking of teaming up, you can join team Game Informer Online and help us raise money for a cause. We?d love for you to join us on our 24-hour marathon in spirit, and you also have the chance to win some prizes by signing up, getting others to sign up, and donating money. Check out Noobtubin8r?s blog post for more information or head over to the team forums and look at the prize thread.

Check out the video below to get an idea for what your time and contributions will be supporting:

Minnesota?s Gillette Children?s Hospital is one such hospital, which the Game Informer staff participating in the Extra Life marathon will be sponsoring. Gillette and Game Informer will be working closely together leading up to the marathon in order to raise awareness and come up with some cool free stuff to give away to viewers.

So far Team GIO has raised $2,434 out of the $4.444 goal. Hopefully, with your support, we will reach that goal. When we do, we?ll raise it even further to net as much cash as we can for these hospitals.

Source: http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2012/10/21/we-re-gaming-for-24-hours-in-the-name-of-charity.aspx

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Advance Auto warns of lower 3Q earnings

ROANOKE, Va. (AP) ? Shares of auto part retailer Advance Auto Parts fell 3.9 percent Monday after the company warned that its third-quarter earnings per share will fall more than 14 percent when it announces results Nov. 8.

Advance also expects a 0.5 percent decrease in third-quarter revenue because of continued soft sales, and the Roanoke, Va., company lowered its full-year earnings projection again.

The company's shares fell $2.65 to $65.78 in Monday morning trading. They are trading toward the low end of their 52-week range of $60.87 to $93.08.

Advance said it expects third-quarter earnings per share to be $1.21, which is 14.2 percent less than the $1.41 the company earned a year earlier. Revenue will drop to $1.46 billion, the company said in a statement. Comparable store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, were expected to fall 1.8 percent, partly offset by the opening of 82 more stores in the past year.

Analysts polled by FactSet are expecting third-quarter earnings of $1.35 per share on revenue of $1.47 billion.

The company said its lower earnings per share were driven by falling sales, as well as increased promotions and advertising aimed at driving up consumer traffic.

Advance said its operating performance will be constrained for the rest of the year due to lower sales in cold-weather markets and soft consumer spending as people defer maintenance and delay purchases of replacement parts.

It now expects full-year earnings to be $5.05 to $5.15 per share, down from prior guidance of between $5.25 and $5.35. Analysts expect $5.32 per share, on average.

The company said it invested in long-term growth of commercial parts sales and to increase customer traffic, boosting comparable store sales from the second quarter to the third quarter. "Despite these improved sales trends, we were still unable to achieve our profitability expectations and fully mitigate the weak consumer demand within several of our markets, especially in colder-weather markets," CEO Darren Jackson said in a statement.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/advance-auto-warns-lower-3q-earnings-151437605--finance.html

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Source: http://feeds.salon.com/salon/index

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Being Productive vs. Being Busy | Family Treasures

We?are working very hard. We are working?long hours?on our?business.?Parents don?t have enough time to play with kids because they are busy.?We don?t have time to nurture important relationships because we are busy.?We don?t have the quality of life we would like because we are exhausted from being busy, busy, BUSY!

If you are busy, you may think that you are being productive and accomplishing a lot. The problem is that the busy work for most people isn?t focused on the things that need to be done.

Switch your focus from being busy to being productive so that you can accomplish more, see tangible results and have time for fun!

Here are?7 changes you can make to switch from being busy to being productive:

Have a to-do list for things that MUST get done today. MUST is the key word. This is where a lot of people go wrong. They sit down to make a list, and they keep adding and adding, all the things they should?ve done, all the things they want to do, and all the things they wish they could do. They end up with a mile long list, and find it so daunting that any motivation for tackling it disappears. ?MUST get done today? list should have no more than 3-8 items, depending on how big they are, and depending on your lifestyle. They should not be the things that everyone has to do. For example, grocery shopping, picking up kids etc. ? they don?t belong on this list because you have to do them and you are going to do them.
Learn Single Tasking. It doesn?t mean that you just work on one thing for weeks or months until you finish it. You can still have variety. It only means that while you are working on a particular task, for that duration of time, you work on that task and that task alone. If it?s important to you, if it adds value to your long-term goals, takes you closer to fulfilling that dream, then give it the attention it deserves.
Get a MOM Diary. Why? Well, the MOM Diary has many items to help you be more productive such as a Goal Setting Section, Goal Collage area, Daily Goal Evaluation Section and Daily Gratitude Section. List your main goals. If you have life goals, list them, otherwise list your annual goals. Then, each day, write down your ?MUST get done today? list. Write down how it went. Did you finish everything? How did you feel while you were working on these tasks? Did you feel charged and enthusiastic or did it feel like a chore? Look for the patterns. Are there particular times in the day when you feel more productive? Do some people?s company spur you towards your goals but others have a negative impact?
Only check emails a few times per day. Close Outlook, log off the internet or turn off the cell phone. Do whatever you have to and stop the ?You?ve got mail!? messages. It?s not helping. Try to check your email only twice a day: once at 10AM?and once at 4pm.
Minimize your time on the phone. Schedule this?to a few times per day. Have a voice-mail message that clearly states when you will return phone calls. Be consistent and put off returning calls unless urgent. Have an emergency phone where people can reach you. Be brief and to the point if they call this number. If you only have one primary line, let the calls to go voice-mail and then return them later. The point is not to interrupt what you?re doing. Finish it before going on to your next important thing.
Keep meetings brief or stay out of them completely. Ask for a meeting agenda before every meeting and decline if you find it irrelevant.
Stay off Social Media ? What?? I know how important Social Media is. I know it?s here to stay and essential for building relationships with customers and building a business BUT Learning how to use Social Media for your growing business will help you spend LESS time on the various networks. Contact the D3signs Studio to attend their next Social Media workshop.

We?re not always going to be productive, and that?s important. While being engaged in the process of creation is nourishing and invigorating, there are?times when we need to be neither busy, nor productive. We just need to be.

Being Productive is so important. Important for our sanity and important because it allows us to rest and focus on what is most important ? Our Family.

References: Lifehack.org | Workawesome.com

Source: http://familytreasures.co.za/2012/10/being-productive-vs-being-busy/

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Sunday, October 21, 2012

Facial recognition helps ID winners in presidential debates

16 hrs.

Staff report , TechNewsDaily

Marketing researcher Chris Kowal has an unusual way of deciding who wins each U.S. presidential debate this year. He's using facial recognition technology to capture the emotions President Barack Obama, presidential candidate Mitt Romney and their vice president picks show while they debate. Whoever is more open and expressive appeals to voters more, Kowal?told WLFI, a Lafayette, Ind. news station.

"The most important part of any type of branding, sales appeal, voter attraction, whatever you want to look at, is going to be that emotional connection," Kowal said. He is a professor at Purdue University in West Lafayette.

Kowal found that Obama won the second presidential debate on Oct. 16, an assessment that agrees with many news outlets' conclusions. Compared to his performance in the first presidential debate on Oct. 3, Obama was more confident, showed a wider range of emotions and connected with the audience better, Kowal?told WLFI. The researcher noted the sadness in the president's face when he talked about the shootings in Aurora, Colo.

Romney showed a more limited range of emotions, but nevertheless displayed some strong feelings, especially disgust, Kowal told WLFI. The Republican candidate showed pride when he talked about his governorship of Massachusetts, Kowal said.?

The software Kowal uses analyzes video clips, tracking the movement of 491 points in people's faces to identify universal emotions such as happiness, sadness, disgust, surprise and fear.?

Kowal has put his software to work for all of the debates so far. During the first presidential debate, he found Romney displayed aggressive, powerful emotions "70 percent of the time he was speaking to President Obama," he?told WTHR, an Indiana-based NBC affiliate.?

Obama, on the other hand, kept his head down, making it difficult for the software to track his emotions. "He didn't allow himself to be expressive," Kowal said.?

During the vice presidential debate Oct. 11, Kowal identified aggressive emotions in Vice President Joe Biden and surprise in Republican candidate Paul Ryan. Nevertheless, Ryan was likeable throughout the debate, Kowal said.?

Kowal didn't identify a vice presidential debate winner for CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin,?who interviewed him. Instead, he said the debate probably encouraged and motivated decided voters on both sides without necessarily swaying undecided citizens.

Kowal will use the data he collects this election season to check his analyses match how voters really feel, WLFI reported. It should also be possible to use facial recognition to check when debaters are lying, Kowal said.?

Sources:?WLFI Oct. 5?and?Oct. 17,?WTHR,?CNN

Follow TechNewsDaily on Twitter?@TechNewsDaily, or on?Facebook.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/futureoftech/facial-recognition-helps-id-winners-presidential-debates-1C6568547

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Kahne qualifies on pole for Cup race at Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) ? Every championship contender knew that starting position would be paramount at repaved Kansas Speedway, where getting to the front after the green flag drops could present a problem.

Kasey Kahne and Clint Bowyer will have the luxury of starting there.

Kahne earned the pole for Sunday's race by shattering the track record with a lap of 191.360 mph, and Bowyer qualified behind Michael Waltrip Racing teammate Mark Martin in third Friday.

"That was a fast lap," Bowyer said, basically summing up the lap turned by everyone. "It's unreal how much that gets your attention."

Kahne is fifth in points with five races left in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, while Bowyer is fourth after his win last week at Charlotte. Both of them are chasing leader Brad Keselowski, five-time champion Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin.

"It's hammer-down, man," said Bowyer, a native of Emporia, Kan. "Looking forward to practice tomorrow. I think we've done a good job so far. Still got a long ways to go."

Not as far to go as Keselowski.

He'll be one of the drivers trying to meander their way through the field over the repaved surface after qualifying 25th. The only Chase driver to qualify worse was three-time champion Tony Stewart, will start 33rd for Sunday's race.

"We just have more work than we wanted," Keselowski said. "Track position is important. If you don't qualify well, you just have to make sure that your car is fast in race trim, and that's what we'll try to do tomorrow."

All 43 cars in the field broke the previous track record 180.856 mph set by Matt Kenseth in 2005, though that came as no surprise. Drivers were turning laps in excess of 190 during practice, and cars were approaching 205 mph before letting up entering the corners.

Speeds not seen over the track since IndyCars were running on it.

"All the drivers are high-fiving each other because we came back here alive," joked Kyle Busch, who qualified fourth. "The minimum speed through the corner is amazing."

Johnson, who will start seventh, said he was "as brave as I could be."

"You're just driving your guys out and doing everything you can all the way around," he said. "You know it's fast. You just don't know if it's fast enough."

Kansas Speedway underwent a massive renovation over the summer that replaced the old, worn-out surface with new pavement while creating variable banking in the corners. It was a necessary step after massive chunks of asphalt chipped off the track during the April race weekend.

Still, the decision was met with consternation from many drivers who have seen multiple lanes and the ability to pass disappear at other tracks that have undergone resurfacing projects.

Martin said he's concerned that one lane along the bottom of the track will make it difficult to pass. That's been the case at some other repaved tracks.

"It's a new track now. I mean, it really is, and we're going to have to learn as we go," Martin said. "We can't find out tomorrow in practice what the track is going to be like Sunday. It's just not going to happen. This track is coming in very slowly."

Hamlin qualified ninth after wrecking the car he intended to use for Sunday's race when he clipped the wall entering Turn 1 near the start of testing on Thursday.

Hamlin wound up making two visits to the infield care center before he was cleared by medical staff to resume testing. He unloaded the car he used at Chicago, where he was in contention for the win, and was good enough to post a lap of 190.718.

"You always have a rebound time that you got to have to get your senses back. The trust in the car and everything is back," Hamlin said. "It's not the car we wanted to race originally, but it's not too bad."

Regan Smith will start 40th in place of Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is missing his second straight race. Earnhardt pulled himself from the car after sustaining two concussions in a six-week span ? the first during a tire test at Kansas, the second during a massive wreck at Talladega.

Smith was seventh-fastest in practice but got sideways during his qualifying lap Friday.

AJ Allmendinger qualified 13th in his second race with Phoenix Racing. The team had been slated to use Smith for the final six races of the season after Kurt Busch left early to get a start on next year's job with Furniture Row Racing.

Hendrick Motorsports wanted Smith to fill-in for Earnhardt, though, and Allmendinger got his first opportunity since his July suspension for failing a random drug test. He completed NASCAR's recovery program and was reinstated in September.

Busch, meanwhile, qualified 29th for Furniture Row.

"This place is really fast right now, so when you kind of are in practice, you get that rhythm of going out there," Allmendinger said. "We definitely have good speed and track position is going to be everything, so it's the way that is going to play out."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kahne-qualifies-pole-cup-race-kansas-230957314--spt.html

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Thursday, October 18, 2012

How to find movie locations, showtimes, reviews, ratings, and trailers using Siri

How to find showtimes, view trailers, ratings, and more with Siri

With iOS 6 your Siri virtual personal assistant has also become quite the movie buff, able to tell you not only what films are playing at which theaters, but provide you with their ratings and reviews, and even play you their trailers.

How to find movies and showtimes in your area with Siri

Press and hold down your Home button to activate Siri.

Tell Siri to "Find movies playing in my area" or ask "What movies are playing near me?"

Wait for Siri to pull up a list of movies and their show times for today.
Tap a movie to get more information, including cast and crew, rating, synopsis, and the trailer.

You can be even more specific if you want to, and mix in other criteria. For example, you can tell Siri to "find all g-rated movies playing in my area" or "find any movies starring Justin Timberlake playing near me"

How to get information about a movie, director, or actor with Siri

Press and hold down your Home button to activate Siri.

Tell Siri "Show me info on the movie Taken 2." or "Show me movies directed by George Lucas."
Wait for Siri to bring up the movie widget.

The movie widget will contain lots of information and some, like ratings or trailers, can be tapped to see and learn even more about the movie. You can even ask for movies that haven't been released yet, or movies that are no longer in theaters but are available in iTunes or through other services.

If a movie is available through iTunes, an iTunes link will let you buy it right from the Siri widget.

How to watch movie trailers with Siri

Press and hold down the Home button to activate Siri.

Tell Siri to "Play the trailer for Despicable Me." or "Play the Despicable Me trailer."

If Siri finds multiple matches, it'll ask you to choose the specific one you wish to view.

This is a great way to go directly to a movie trailer without having to go to the information widget first.

How to check movie ratings with Siri

Press and hold down the Home button to activate Siri.

Tell Siri "Show me moving ratings for Despicable Me." or "What kind of ratings did the movie Taken 2 get?"
If Siri finds more than one match, she'll ask you to choose the name of the movie.

Tap on it and ratings will then be displayed from Rotten Tomatoes.

How to get directions to a movie theater with Siri

Press and hold down the Home button in order to activate Siri.

Tell Siri to "Find movies playing near me." or "Find a movie theater near me."

Siri will show the theater name at the very top with movie listings underneath it. Tap on the theater name and address at the top.

You will be routed to the built-in Maps app and the theater will be shown on a map.

From here you can route directions to the theater of your choice.

How to view info on multiple movie theaters with Siri

By default Siri will only show you showtimes for your current location. If you're planning a trip or going out of town and want to pre-plan, this probably isn't much help. You can, however, override the defaults to find out about theaters and showtimes outside of your area.

Press and hold down the Home button to activate Siri.

Ask Siri something like "Find theaters in Chicago, IL." or "Find movies playing at the Metreon in San Francisco."

This will make Siri override your current location and look for movies and theaters in the area you are asking for. From here you can view showtimes and theater information just like you would locally.