Advertising spending online expected to surpass print this year - to $39.5 billion this year -

Advertising spending online expected to surpass print this year - to $39.5 billion this year - 


U.S. online advertising spending is expected to grow 23.3% to $39.5 billion this year, pushing it ahead of total advertising spending in print newspapers and magazines, according to an eMarketer report.


Meanwhile, print advertising spending is expected to fall to $33.8 billion in 2012 from $36 billion last year, the market research company said.


"Advertisers' comfort level with integrated marketing is greater than ever, and this is helping more advertisers -- and more large brands -- put a greater share of dollars online," said David Hallerman, eMarketer's principal analyst.


The 2012 estimates come after a robust year for U.S. advertising in 2011. eMarketer said online ad spending grew 23% to $32.03 billion last year while total ad spending rose 3.4% to $158.9 billion.  


The market research company said firms are funneling more advertising money online because of the growing amount of time that consumers spend with digital platforms and advertisers' view of the Internet as a more measurable medium, especially as the soft economy "forces businesses to be more accountable with their ad dollars."


Read more -
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2012/01/advertising-spending-online-expected-to-surpass-print-this-year.html

United States has sent some 12,000 soldiers to Libya -

United States has sent some 12,000 soldiers to Libya - 




The United States has sent some 12,000 soldiers to Libya, in the first phase of deployments to the oil-rich North African nation.


According to Asharq Alawsat, the troops landed in the eastern oil port city of Brega. 


Although the deployment is said to be aimed at generating stability and security in the region, the troops are expected to take control of the country's key oil fields and strategic ports. 


Brega, the site of an important oil refinery, serves as a major export hub for Libyan oil. The town is also one of the five oil terminals in the eastern half of the country. 


Following the popular uprising of the Libyan people, NATO launched a major air campaign against the forces of the former regime on March 19, 2011 under a UN mandate to “protect the Libyan population.” 


The Western military alliance, however, was heavily criticized for its failure to protect civilians and taking action beyond the terms of the UN mandate. 


On October 20, Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was killed in his hometown of Sirte, eight months into an uprising that put an end to his 42-year dictatorship. 


Human rights groups have accused NATO of committing war crimes and human rights violations against Libyans. 


Read more -
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/222317.html

DeKalb Police Officer Shoots, Kills Dog at Wrong House -

DeKalb Police Officer Shoots, Kills Dog at Wrong House - 

DeKalb Police Officer Shoots, Kills Dog at Wrong House: MyFoxATLANTA.com

 A DeKalb County woman says her dog was shot in cold blood Tuesday night by a police officer who should not have even been at her home.


DeKalb County police confirmed the officer responded to a 911 call at the wrong address and say he fired at the dog because he felt threatened.


Bobby Currie said her 2-year-old German Sheppard, Easy, was secured on a chain outside her home when the officer arrived.


Currie said she questions how the officer could have been threatened by the dog.


The officer was responding to a 911 call placed at an address across the street from Currie’s house. The officer apparently didn’t realize that mistake as he argued with Currie’s husband, Anthony.


"The threat wasn't the dog, the threat was across the street," said Currie.


DeKalb County Police Department spokesperson Mekka Parish said the incident is under investigation.


“We do empathize with them about their pet but we need patience and time to figure out exactly what happened so we have the answers to their questions,” said Parish.


Parish confirmed a domestic disturbance call came from the home across the street. She said investigators are trying to determine why the officer responded to Currie’s home.


The responding officer has not been placed on paid administrative leave. He was back on the job Wednesday.


Currie said she would like an apology from the officer.


Read more -
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/local_news/DeKalb-Police-Shoots-Kills-Dog-at-Wrong-House-201201118-pm-pk

Russia is talking with the US and Europe on plans to create a manned research base on the moon -

Russia is talking with the US and Europe on plans to create a manned research base on the moon - 


Russia is talking with the US and Europe on plans to create a manned research base on the moon, the head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos said Thursday.
Roscosmos is discussing the possibilities for a permanent moon base with officials from NASA and the European Space Agency, the agency's chief, Vladimir Popovkin said.
"We don't want man to just step on the moon," Popovkin told Vesti FM radio station, according to the Ria Novosti news agency. "Today, we know enough about it, we know that there is water in its polar areas ... we are now discussing how to begin [the moon's] exploration with NASA and the European Space Agency."
He said the plan was either to set up a base on the moon or launch a station to orbit around it.
Russia also is planning to send two unmanned mission to the moon by 2020, Popovkin said.
The comments come after a string of high profile space failures by the Russians. On Sunday, the doomed Mars probe Phobos-Grunt plummeted to earth following a malfunction.
It was the latest mishap for Roscosmos and came after Russian president Dmitry Medvedev threatened to punish those responsible for previous space failures, which included the loss of satellites and botched launches.




Read more: http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpps/news/russia-us-moon-base-nasa-dpgonc-20110119-to-_17194074

New storage device is super tiny at 12 atoms -

New storage device is super tiny at 12 atoms - 


Think your SSD is the bomb because it can stash away 128GB of data on something so svelte? The future is far more promising, as researchers at IBM managed to stash and retrieve digital 1s and 0s from an array of a mere 12 atoms, which means the boundaries of the magnetic storage of information have been pushed yet again to what some deem to be an impossible edge. These new findings are definitely worth looking into and studied further, since it might eventually be the de facto storage system of choice, opening up a whole new world of nanomaterials being used in a generation of memory chips and disk drives. Not only does the total size of future storage devices shrink, they will also consume far less power – and that is always a good thing.


At point of publishing, the majority of advanced magnetic storage systems require around one million atoms to store a digital 1 or 0, but this new achievement (Achievement Unlocked!) was made possible thanks to the exploration of magnetic materials properties at a far smaller scale.


Read more - 
http://www.ubergizmo.com/2012/01/new-storage-device-12-atoms/

Marianne Gingrich, ex-wife of GOP candidate Newt Gingrich dropped bombshell that could “end” her ex-husband’s career -

Marianne Gingrich, ex-wife of GOP candidate Newt Gingrich dropped bombshell that could “end” her ex-husband’s career - 




According to Drudge Report, Marianne Gingrich — ex-wife of GOP candidate Newt Gingrich — dropped what sources claim is a game-changing bombshell about the former House Speaker — one that could “end” her ex-husband’s career. The interview, conducted last week by Brian Ross, is now causing major waves at the network, according to sources and a “civil war” has since exploded at ABC on exactly when the confession will air.


Drudge reports that executives at ABCNews say it would be “unethical” to run Marianne Gingrich’s interview so close to South Carolina Primary and that a tentative decision has been made to broadcast the interview next Monday after all votes have been counted.


According to Drudge, a source familiar with the incident finds the decision to hold off airing the segment until after the primary odd, given that ABC has been assailing other candidates aggressively.


Gingrich canceled a press conference on Wednesday, reportedly to address the matter.


Read more -
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/ex-wife-to-unleash-potentially-career-ending-bombshell-about-gingrich-during-abc-interview-source-claims-network-now-in-civil-war/

Navy’s New Minehunter Can’t See or Stop Mines - and has wicked problems with corrosion -

Navy’s New Minehunter Can’t See or Stop Mines - and has wicked problems with corrosion - 




It’s bad enough that the Navy’s newest ship has had wicked problems with corrosion, missed out on the latest naval wartime missions and is generally something of a Frankenstein’s monster. Now the Pentagon’s top weapons tester has found problems with its abilities to find and withstand mines — which is a big problem for a ship that’s supposed to be the Navy’s minehunter of the future.


That’s the assessment of the director of the Office of Testing and Evaluation, summing up a year’s worth of trials for the Littoral Combat Ship, the Navy’s cherished — and expensive — next-generation ship for warfare close to a shoreline. Little wonder that defense analysts think the ship is headed for the budgetary chopping block, even though the Navy wants 55 of the things and only has three.


The report finds that the Littoral Combat Ship’s systems for spotting mines, the AN/AQS-20A Sonar Mine Detecting Set and the Airborne Laser Mine Detection System, are “deficient” for their primary task. That deficiency, if uncorrected, will “adversely affect the operational effectiveness” of a ship that’s already “not expected to be survivable in a hostile combat environment.”


In other words, right now, the Littoral Combat Ship could stumble, Mr. Magoo-like, into a minefield — like, say, the narrow Strait of Hormuz or the coasts of China or North Korea — and then it’s lights out. If the Littoral Combat Ship is going to carry the sonar and laser systems that it’s currently scheduled to carry, then like Fat Joe and Raekwon, it must respect mines.




Some necessary caveats apply. Just because the testers think there’s something wrong with a ship, truck, plane or gun doesn’t mean the program in question is doomed. Testing is how you discover flaws before they put someone in uniform at risk. And with the Littoral Combat Ship, those flaws might actually be less damaging than with some other ships, because everything the ship carries is designed to be modular — meaning you can swap out and substitute most everything on the hull.


At the same time, the inability of the Littoral Combat Ship to withstand a sustained assault places a lot of stress on its minehunting systems. “As designed, it wouldn’t, ideally, go anywhere near a mine field,” explains Chris Johnson, a spokesman for Naval Sea System Command. “It’s not designed to take a mine strike. It’s designed to send off-board sensors and systems to find and then neutralize the mine.” Emphasis on ideally.


Read more -
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/01/mines-littoral-combat-ship/

Do you suffer from 'Facebook depression'? - believe that their friends' lives are better than their own -

Do you suffer from 'Facebook depression'? - believe that their friends' lives are better than their own - 




Have you ever felt as though your social media news feed felt more like a blues feed?


A new study by Utah Valley University looked at the phenomenon generally known as "Facebook depression." 


It found that the carefully cultivated image of a happy life by Facebook users - including smiling profile pictures and ubiquitous "best day ever" status updates - can lead some to believe that their friends' lives are better than their own.


Sociologists Hui-Tzu Grace Chou and Nicholas Edge interviewed 425 undergraduate students about their personal happiness and the nature of their Facebook profiles, including the size of their friends list.


According to Chou, "those spending more time on Facebook each week agreed more that others were happier and had better lives," despite the knowledge that everyone has good and bad days.


The "Facebook depression" phenomenon isn't entirely new - a study in March from the U.S. medical journal Pediatrics found that the website may amplify depression in teens. 


Researchers in that study could not agree whether Facebook's effect was an extension of depression some kids feel in other circumstances, or a distinct condition linked with using the site.


Read more -
http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourcommunity/2012/01/do-you-suffer-from-facebook-depression.html

New York Moves to Deploy Terahertz Imaging Detection Body Scanners on Street in Search for Guns -

New York Moves to Deploy Terahertz Imaging Detection Body Scanners on Street in Search for Guns - 



NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly told CBS in New York his department is looking to deploy Terahertz Imaging Detection scanners on the street in the war on “illegal guns.”



Kelly said the scanners would be used in “reasonably suspicious circumstances” and intended to cut down on the number of stop-and-frisks on the street. So called stop-and-frisks are considered a violation of the Fourth Amendment.
New York City is largely a Second Amendment free zone. The city’s mayor, Michael Bloomberg, has said that citizens “acting outside of any governmental military effort” should not be allowed to protect themselves with firearms.
“The NYPD and Department of Defense are working together testing Terahertz Imaging Detection, a new way to get concealed illegal weapons off the streets,” CBS reports. Terahertz Imaging Detection measures energy radiating from the body up to 16 feet away and can detect anything blocking it.
The ACLU and civil libertarians oppose the effort to use the technology on the street. “It’s worrisome. It implicates privacy, the right to walk down the street without being subjected to a virtual pat-down by the Police Department when you’re doing nothing wrong,” the NYCLU’s Donna Lieberman said.
In addition to violating the Fourth Amendment, the proposed technology would subject citizens to a documented health risk – the destruction of DNA.
Studies reveal that THz waves “unzip double-stranded DNA, creating bubbles in the double strand that could significantly interfere with processes such as gene expression and DNA replication,” according to MIT’s Technology Review.
For more information, see this paper posted at the Cornell University Library.
If we are to believe CBS, most residents either are not concerned about the privacy aspects of the technology or think it is a reasonable trade-off to stop gun crime and terrorism.
CBS does not mention the ability of THz to destroy DNA. If they did, no doubt most people interviewed would oppose the new technology.

Read more - 
http://www.infowars.com/new-york-moves-to-deploy-body-scanners-on-street-in-search-for-guns/

112 Questions To Ask Yourself In 2012 -

112 Questions To Ask Yourself In 2012 - 


The beginning of each year is a great time to evaluate the direction of your life and to ask yourself some very important questions.  Often we get so busy just living life that we lose our perspective.  It is important for each of us to take time once in a while to reassess how our lives are going.  It is also important for all of us to reassess the direction that our nation is heading in every so often.  The truth is that America has gotten badly off track.  We have abandoned the principles which once made this country great, and this country is literally falling apart all around us.  Hopefully the questions below will not just get you focused on our problems.  Hopefully they will also spur you to think about solutions.  Both individually and as a nation, we are in a lot of trouble.  We need to start asking better questions and we need to rediscover the things that once made America the greatest nation on earth.  If we are willing to humble ourselves and change course then there is hope for us.  If not, then the road that we are currently on will only lead to national disaster.


The following are 112 questions to ask yourself in 2012....


#1 Are Barack Obama and Mitt Romney really the best that America can come up with?


#2 Right now the nations of the world are 55 trillion dollars in debt.  How long will it be before this system of debt totally collapses?


#3 What things in life are you truly grateful for?  Do you ever take time to thank those that have been so good to you?


#4 In 2012, when you add the maturing debt that the Italian government must roll over to their projected budget deficit, it comes to 23.1 percent of Italy's GDP.  How in the world is Italy going to be able to handle that in this economic environment?


#5 What do you feel like you are missing in life?  Are you actively looking for those things?


#6 According to a survey conducted by the National Geographic Society, only 37 percent of all Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 can find Iraq on a map of the world.  What does that say about our education system?


#7 Do you give more than you take?  Would you rather serve people or be served?


#8 Why were gun sales in the United States at record levels as we entered 2012?


#9 What are you afraid of? Are those fears rational or irrational?


#10 168 million emails are sent every single minute.  Are we rapidly getting to the point of information overload?


#11 Do you care enough about other people?  Do you spend more time thinking about yourself or thinking about others?


#12 Why are there 18.5 million vacant homes in America today?


#13 Did you spend enough time with your family last year?  Will you spend enough time with them this year?


#14 The number of Americans on food stamps has increased by 20 million over the past five years.  What does that say about the state of the U.S. economy?


#15 Is your family prepared for what is about to happen to this world?


#16 Why do the poor in America just keep getting poorer?


#17 After you are dead, what will people be saying about you?  Will they miss you or will they be glad that you are gone?


#18 Why have 10 million more Americans fallen below the poverty line since 2006?


#19 What do you need to change about yourself?


#20 Should we all be concerned that doctors in India say that "incurable" cases of tuberculosis are showing up in India?


#21 Who do you know that could use some more love?


#22 Why is the Department of Homeland Security scanning Facebook and Twitter for "sensitive words"?


#23 Is your country a better place because you live there?


#24 Why is the FBI building a massive new biometric database?


#25 What do you think your life will be like ten years from now?


#26 40,000 new laws went into effect across the United States as 2012 began.  What does that say about the culture in this nation?


#27 If you could have dinner with anyone in the world, who would that be and why?


#28 What did Mitt Romney mean when he stated that he wants to "eliminate some of the differences, repeal the bad, and keep the good" in Obamacare?


#29 What is the best piece of advice that you have ever gotten?  Are you still following it?


#30 Is it a good thing that the wealthiest 10 percent of all Americans have 56 percent of all the wealth?


#31 What books do you need to put on your reading list this year?


#32 About half of all Americans are now either living in poverty or are considered to be low income.  So are we still a "wealthy" nation?


#33 What are the things that you do that waste the most time?


#34 Why aren't more Americans concerned that the trade deficit is increasing again?  This is one of the things that killed the Greek economy and it is most definitely sucking the life out of our own economy.  Could it be that most Americans have become so "dumbed down" that they don't even know what a trade deficit is?


#35 What would happen to you and your family if you suddenly lost your job?


#36 How is Germany able to build twice as many cars every year as the United States does?


#37 Have you done anything worth remembering lately?


#38 Why is the average age of a vehicle in America now sitting at an all-time high?


#39 If you only had one day left to live, how would you spend that day?


#40 How stupid are the American people for piling up 700 billion dollars in credit card debt?


#41 Is there anything that is worth giving your life for?


#42 If Obamacare is so great for working people, then why are so many unions requesting (and getting) Obamacare waivers from the federal government?


#43 Do you believe that you can be a hero?


#44 Why is the government allowing genetically modified mosquitoes to be released in the United States?


#45 What is one great decision that you can make right now?


#46 Why is Mitt Romney taxed at a lower rate than most middle class Americans are?


#47 If someone gave you one million dollars today, how would you spend it?


#48 Who decided that it would be a good idea for TSA "VIPR Teams" to set up thousands of internal checkpoints across the United States every year?


#49 What is the number one thing on your Bucket List?  Why haven't you done it already?


#50 Why is the federal government spending billions of dollars to militarize local police departments across the United States?


#51 If it was possible, would you want to live forever?


#52 Should we be concerned that 30% of all Americans get arrested by the age of 23?


#53 Where would you rather be than right here right now?


#54 Why did the D.C. government pass a new law that protects the rights of rats?


#55 Which is greater - the number of people that you love, or the number of people that you hate?


#56 Are CEOs really 243 times more valuable than the average worker is?


#57 What will your legacy be?


#58 Is the massive swarm of earthquakes that New Zealand is experiencing a sign that the "Ring of Fire" is becoming more active?


#59 What would your plan be if there was a major volcanic eruption on the west coast of the United States?


#60 If 63 percent of all mortgaged properties in the state of Nevada are still "underwater", then how in the world can anyone claim that there is a light at the end of the tunnel for the housing crisis?


#61 Why is the federal government arresting people who produce raw milk?


#62 Is the world on the verge of an absolutely nightmarish water crisis?


#63 What are you really good at?  Are you using that skill to make a difference in the lives of others?


#64 Why is the U.S. government giving nearly half a billion dollars every 12 months to an organization that performs about 300,000 abortions a year?


#65 What is the meaning of life?


#66 Why are so many Planned Parenthood executives earning well over $100,000 a year?


#67 How can you make tomorrow better than today?


#68 While the TSA is groping millions of Americans at airports every year, rampant sex trafficking is going on in virtually every major American city.  Isn't it time that we admitted that our allocation of law enforcement resources is very seriously flawed?


#69 How can you make next week better than this week?


#70 One recent survey found that only 29 percent of people would describe themselves as "very happy".  So what does that say about the state of our country?


#71 Do you consider yourself to be good?  If so, how did you determine that?


#72 If we are on the verge of a global recession, then why is the stock market still so high?


#73 What would happen if government spending was cut by 50 percent?


#74 Is the euro going to eventually fall to parity with the U.S. dollar?


#75 If the euro fails, what will Europe do?  Would national currencies make a comeback or would a new "European currency" be created?


#76 Are we getting dangerously close to a war in the Middle East?


#77 What would happen to the price of gasoline if foreign oil supplies from the Middle East were suddenly cut off?


#78 Is Germany going to just stand by and watch Greece default?


#79 Is it likely that your eating habits will send you to an early grave?  If so, why not make this the year when they change?


#80 Why aren't politicians from either major political party doing something to stop the massive flood of blue collar jobs that is pouring out of this country?  Don't they care about average Americans?


#81 Why do we spend so much time on things that simply do not matter?


#82 Since 1971, consumer debt in the United States has increased by a whopping 1700%.  Is that a sign of a nation that is going to be prosperous in the long run?


#83 Does the U.S. need a new major political party?


#84 The U.S. debt problem continues to escalate.  During the Obama administration, the U.S. government has accumulated more debt than it did from the time that George Washington took office to the time that Bill Clinton took office.  Very few of our politicians seem alarmed by this.  Are we the stupidest generation in American history?


#85 Does the U.S. need a new Constitutional Convention?


#86 When we finally see the U.S. economy collapse, who will be in better shape - those that have spent years preparing or those that have not prepared at all?


#87 Are you so afraid to fail that you simply do not even try anymore?


#88 We are facing the most horrific retirement crisis in U.S. history.  Right now, more than 10,000 Baby Boomers are turning 65 every single day.  So where in the world are we going to get all the money we need to pay them the retirement benefits that we have promised them?  Isn't the Social Security system essentially one gigantic Ponzi scheme?


#89 If people started following your example, would that be a good thing?


#90 According to one Gallup survey, 7 out of every 10 Americans believe that religion is losing influence in the United States.  Is that good for America or bad for America?


#91 Do you ever do anything that is outside of your comfort zone?


#92 The U.S. dollar has lost well over 95 percent of its value since the Federal Reserve was created, the U.S. national debt is more than 5000 times larger than it was when the Federal Reserve was created and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has a track record of incompetence that is absolutely mind blowing.  So what possible justification is there for allowing the Federal Reserve to continue to issue our currency and run our economy?


#93 If you lost everything that you currently own, would your life be over?


#94 If the European financial system is going to be just fine, then why is the UK government preparing feverishly for the collapse of the euro?


#95 When you meet someone for the first time, do you tend to instantly love them or do you tend to instantly judge them?


#96 If the one thing that almost everyone in the Republican Party seems to agree on is that Obamacare is bad, then why is the candidate that created the plan that much of Obamacare was based upon about to run away with the race for the Republican nomination?


#97 Do you feel like you are truly alive?  If not, what can you do to change that?


#98 Why have we allowed the "too big to fail" banks to become even larger?


#99 Who are you living your life for?  Does the answer to that question excite you or depress you?


#100 One recent survey found that 77 percent of all U.S. small businesses do not plan to hire any more workers.  So where are all of the jobs for the "economic recovery" going to come from?


#101 As you have gotten older, have you also become more loving?


#102 Since 1964, the reelection rate for members of the U.S. House of Representatives has never fallen below 85 percent.  How stupid can the American people possibly be?  They keep sending the exact same Congress critters back to Washington D.C. over and over and over.


#103 Do you treat others the way that you would like to be treated?


#104 According to a recent Pew Research Center analysis, only 51 percent of all Americans that are at least 18 years old are currently married.  Back in 1960, 72 percent of all U.S. adults were married.  Without strong family units, can America survive?


#105 Do you prefer to forgive those that have hurt you or do your prefer to hold long grudges?


#106 According to an analysis of Census Bureau data done by the Pew Research Center, the median net worth for households led by someone 65 years of age or older is 47 times greater than the median net worth for households led by someone under the age of 35.  So why are so many young people so broke?


#107 Do you tell your family and your friends that you love them or do you just assume that they already know?


#108 According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, 36.4% of all children that live in Philadelphia are living in poverty, 40.1% of all children that live in Atlanta are living in poverty, 52.6% of all children that live in Cleveland are living in poverty and 53.6% of all children that live in Detroit are living in poverty.  How bad are things going to be when the economy gets even worse?


#109 If Bill Gates gave every single penny of his fortune to the U.S. government, it would only cover the U.S. budget deficit for about 15 days.    How in the world can we justify putting so much debt on to the backs of future generations?


#110 How do you want the story of your life to end?


#111 Will the years ahead find you cowering in fear or will they find you enjoying greater adventures than you ever dreamed of?


#112 If you had the opportunity to tell everyone in America one thing, what would it be?


Read more - 
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/112-questions-to-ask-yourself-in-2012