Hotel In Santa Clarita - Ghostly Image Of Two Of Saturn's Many Moons, Courtesy Of Cassini

Source       - http://www.latimes.com/
By             - Deborah Netburn
Category  - Hotel In Santa Clarita
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

Hotel In Santa Clarita

Saturn may be best known for its iconic rings, but the giant planet is also host to more than 53 moons, each one a fascinating and distinct world of its own.

In the ghostly image above, captured by NASA's Cassini mission, you can see two members of Saturn's massive moon family -- Mimas and Pandora -- glowing brightly above Saturn's smooth gray rings.

The large, round moon toward the top of the image is Mimas, the smallest of Saturn's major moons. It is 246 miles across, and scientists believe it is made almost entirely of water ice.

Cassini was approximately 690,000 miles away from Mimas when it took this image, but if you look closely you can still spot the enormous 80-mile wide crater that spreads over a large chunk of the moon's surface. (It looks like a divot on the right side of the moon).

Beneath Mimas, you'll see the oblong moon Pandora, which is just 52 miles across and shaped like a potato. Pandora's strange shape is a result of the moon not having enough gravity to pull itself into a sphere, according to NASA scientists.

You can't see it in this image, but Pandora is coated in dust-sized ice material that covers even its craters.

Cassini was 731,000 miles from Pandora when this image was taken.

Earlier this month, Cassini's hard-working cameras caught a glimpse of Earth as seen from 900 million miles away. Those images can make you feel small and insignificant, but in a kind of glorious way.

Attractions In Santa Clarita - Over a Million Are Denied Bank Accounts For Past Errors

Source - http://dealbook.nytimes.com/
By -  JESSICA SILVER
Category - Attractions In Santa Clarita
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

Attractions In Santa Clarita

Mistakes like a bounced check or a small overdraft have effectively blacklisted more than a million low-income Americans from the mainstream financial system for as long as seven years as a result of little-known private databases that are used by the nation’s major banks.

The problem is contributing to the growth of the roughly 10 million households in the United States that lack a banking account, a basic requirement of modern economic life.

Unlike traditional credit reporting databases, which provide portraits of outstanding debt and payment histories, these are records of transgressions in banking products. Institutions like Bank of America, Citibank and Wells Fargo say that tapping into the vast repositories of information helps them weed out risky customers and combat fraud — a mounting threat for banks.

But consumer advocates and state authorities say the use of the databases disproportionately affects lower-income Americans, who tend to live paycheck to paycheck, making them more likely to incur negative marks after relatively minor banking missteps like overdrawing accounts, amassing fees or bouncing checks.

When the databases were created more than 20 years ago, they were intended to help banks guard against serial fraud artists, like those accused of writing bogus checks. Since then, though, the databases have ensnared millions of low-income Americans, according to interviews with financial counselors, consumer lawyers and more than two dozen low-income people in California, Illinois, Florida, New York and Washington.

Jonathan Mintz, the commissioner of the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, says banks’ growing reliance on customer databases has frustrated efforts to help an estimated 825,000 New Yorkers without bank accounts gain access to the mainstream financial system.

“Hundreds of thousands of Americans are being shut out for relatively small mistakes,” Mr. Mintz said.

As a result, many have no choice but to turn to costly fringe operations to cash checks, pay bills and wire money. Saving for the future, financial counselors say, can be especially difficult.

The ranks of those without bank accounts have swelled — up more than 10 percent since 2009, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation — as banks have sharpened their focus on more affluent customers who typically generate twice the revenue of their lower-income counterparts. Many banks are closing branches in poor areas and expanding in wealthier ones, according to an analysis of federal data.

Rejection for would-be bank customers can come as a shock. Tiffany Murrell of Brooklyn says a credit union denied her checking account application in September 2012 even though she had a job as a secretary and was up to date on her bills.

Hotel In California - Back Pain: Doctors Increasingly Ignore Clinical Guidelines

Source - http://www.latimes.com/
By - Monte Morin
Category - Hotel In California
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

Hotel In California

Doctors have increasingly ignored clinical guidelines for the treatment of routine back pain by prescribing powerful and addictive narcotics instead of other recommended painkillers and by recommending unwarranted diagnostic imagery, according to a new study.

Researchers at Massachusetts' Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School based their conclusion on an examination of roughly 24,000 cases of spine problems in national databases from 1999 to 2010. Their findings appeared online Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine.

"Well-established guidelines for routine back pain stress conservative management, including use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or acetaminophen and physical therapy," wrote lead author Dr. John Mafi and his colleagues.

Despite these guidelines, researchers found that doctors were doing much the opposite.

Although physical therapy referrals remained steady during the study period, prescriptions for narcotic painkillers jumped 51%. Simultaneously, prescriptions for non-opiate drugs had fallen by the same amount.

Study authors noted that a 2007 analysis found that narcotics provided little to no benefit in cases of acute back pain and that they had also failed to prove effective in cases of chronic back pain.

The jump in narcotic prescriptions therefore raised "significant concerns," the authors wrote, and may be linked to a larger national crisis involving prescription drug deaths.

"Although we lack adequate data to make firm recommendations on narcotic medications, which may be indicated in certain instances, such increases in narcotic prescriptions may be contributing to a current crisis in public health: The rapid increase in narcotic overdose deaths parallels a reported 300% increase in the U.S. sales of prescription narcotics since the 1990s."

Researchers also identified "an inappropriate increase" in the use of "low value" diagnostic imaging that could lead to future cancer in patients because of exposure to ionizing radiation.

While medical guidelines recommended that doctors avoid early imaging or other aggressive treatments, except in rare cases, researchers found that the use of computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) had increased by 57%. 

 

Researchers say that such scans have proved to be of little benefit to patients who lack "red-flag symptoms" and that overuse of the technology has been identified in previous studies as well.

"In 2007, a projected 1,200 additional future cancers were created by the 2.2 million lumbar CTs performed in the United States," the authors wrote.

The authors say that under established treatment guidelines, routine back pain will usually improve within 3 months.

However, referral rates to other doctors, presumably for surgery, had doubled during the study period. (Early MRI for acute back pain was associated with an eight-fold increased risk of surgery, researchers found.)

"The 106% increase in referrals to other physicians is a previously unrecognized and important finding because such referrals likely contributed to the recent increase in costly, morbid and often ineffective outpatient spine operations observed in other studies," the authors wrote.

Nationally, back and neck problems are responsible for more than 10% of all visits to primary care physicians and account for $86 billion in healthcare spending every year.

According to study authors, spending on these conditions has increased more rapidly than overall health expenditures from 1997 to 2005.

"With healthcare costs soaring, improvements in the management of back pain represent an area of potential cost savings for the healthcare system while also improving the quality of care," the authors concluded.

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita - Move Over iPad Mini -- New Nexus 7 Is Current Small Tablet Champ

Source - http://www.forbes.com/
By - Larry Magid
Category - Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

 

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita

I’ve been using the new Nexus 7 since it was announced last week and, frankly, my iPad mini is starting to look a little weak by comparison.

Unlike the mini, which doesn’t use the higher resolution Retina display like the latest version of its full-sized iPad and latest iPhones, the Nexus 7 has a high definition display (1920×1200/323 pixel compared to mini’s 1024 x 768/163 pixel) screen and is capable of showing 1080p HD video. The difference is noticeable when you read or watch HD video but, I have to admit, that iPad mini is still pretty good when it comes to resolution.   I used both to read parts of a book using Amazon’s Kindle app and, while both were quite clear, I could see that the text was somewhat sharper on the Nexus’ higher resolution screen.

Both have a 1.2 megapixel front and a 5 megapixel rear facing cameras.  Here are the full specifications for the new Nexus 7 and here are the iPad mini specs.

As per price, the 16 GB Nexus 7 costs $229 while the mini starts at $329. That’s a $100 difference for pretty similar hardware configurations.  Google also doesn’t ding you as much for extra storage. A 32GB Nexus (WiFi only) costs $269, while Apple charges $429 for its 32 GB model.

Lighter and narrower but a bit thicker

Bottom line — because it’s not as wide,the Nexus 7, it  not only fits well in the hand but takes up a bit less space in handbags and pockets. It fits pretty easily into the front pockets of my Docker khaki slacks. Of course you could argue that the mini’s extra screen real estate is a bonus compared to the Nexus more petite form factor.

Software

The biggest difference between the two tablets is Android vs iOS.  This is where both reasonable and unreasonable people can argue depending on personal preference. For many of us, the best interface is the one we know so if you’re already an iOS user you’re likely to prefer the familiar iPad interface. Many Android users will likely feel the same about their operating system.

Although it’s hard to argue against Apple’s elegant U.I. and there may be even more to love about  iOS 7 that comes out this fall, I have to give Google credit for — over time — improving and fine tuning Android into an excellent platform for both phones and tablets. One thing I like about the new 4.3 (which comes on the Nexus 7) is that you can create restricted accounts, which makes it a lot more family friendly for parents who want to let their kids use their tablets without being able to buy apps or make in-app purchases or visit naughty websites.

Hotels In Northern California - Android Jelly Bean 4.3 Shines On Nexus 7 But It’s No Key Lime Pie 5.0

Source - http://www.stableytimes.com/
By -  Jerry Miller
Category - Hotels In Northern California
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

Hotels In Northern California

Android 4.3 shines as a medium sized update on the new Nexus 7, but it’s not the ‘droid most users were looking for. Android users will have to wait awhile for the Key Lime Pie 5.0 software update, as Google prepares to release yet another Jelly Bean update next week. As far as consolation prizes go, Jelly Bean 4.3 update is not a bad one. In fact when the beta build of 4.3 was first discovered it was thought to be Key Lime Pie based on the significance of what it brings to the table, until the code letters of its build name revealed it to be yet another Jelly Bean release. Now the question is just how many current Android phones and tablets will be compatible with 4.3 upon its release.

Android 4.3 will seek to improve upon that, with full compatibility with Google’s own new Nexus 7 next week. And if vendors are serious about moving beyond the fragmentation era, Samsung and HTC will announce that their Galaxy S4 and One, respectively, have also been built to be forward compatible with the new Jelly Bean release. But while which fraction of Android users will be able to take advantage of the 4.3 update is still in question, it does serve up a decent set of improvements for an x.x release. It’s just no Key Lime Pie, whose features are still unknown but whose 5.0 designation means it’ll bring a significant overhaul to the platform.

Accommodation In Santa Clarita - Here’s Why Apple’s iPad Sales Are Falling

Source - http://wallstcheatsheet.com/
By - Nathanael Arnold
Category - Accommodation In Santa Clarita
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

 

Accommodation In Santa Clarita

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) saw a decline in iPad sales for the first time according to its recently released third-quarter results. The Cupertino, California-based company sold 14.6 million iPads during the June quarter, 2.4 million less than the amount it sold in the same quarter last year.

Although this statistic alarmed some Apple watchers, the year-over-year decline in iPad sales is hardly surprising considering the fact that Apple released a new iteration of its tablet in March 2012. In this sense, comparing iPad sales figures from the June quarter in 2012 to the same quarter in 2013 is like comparing apples to oranges.

However, it should also be noted that the majority of the iPad sales drop is directly attributable to a “1.9 million unit channel inventory swing,” as stated by Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer during the third-quarter results conference call, Yahoo Finance reports. “We built 1.2 million units of iPad channel inventory in the June quarter last year whereas we reduced channel inventory by 700,000 units in the June quarter this year.”

The days of paying for costly software upgrades are numbered. The PC will soon be obsolete. And BusinessWeek reports 70% of Americans are already using the technology that will replace it. Merrill Lynch calls it "a $160 billion opportunity." Computing giants including IBM, Yahoo!, and Amazon are racing to be the first to cash in on this PC-killing revolution. Yet, a small group of little-known companies have a huge head start. Get the full details on these companies, and the technology that is destroying the PC, in a free video from The Motley Fool. Enter your email address below to view this stunning video.

Hotel Reservations In Santa Clarita - SIM Cards Have Finally Been Hacked, And The Flaw Could Affect Millions Of Phones

Source - http://www.forbes.com/
By - Parmy Olson
Category - Hotel Reservations In Santa Clarita
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

Hotel Reservations In Santa Clarita

Smartphones are susceptible to malware and carriers have enabled NSA snooping, but the prevailing wisdom has it there’s still one part of your mobile phone that remains safe and un-hackable: your SIM card.

Yet after three years of research, German cryptographer Karsten Nohl claims to have finally found encryption and software flaws that could affect millions of SIM cards, and open up another route on mobile phones for surveillance and fraud.

Nohl, who will be presenting his findings at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas on July 31, says his is the first hack of its kind in a decade, and comes after he and his team tested close to 1,000 SIM cards for vulnerabilities, exploited by simply sending a hidden SMS. The two-part flaw, based on an old security standard and badly configured code, could allow hackers to remotely infect a SIM with a virus that sends premium text messages (draining a mobile phone bill), surreptitiously re-direct and record calls, and — with the right combination of bugs — carry out payment system fraud.

Payment fraud could be a particular problem for mobile phone users in Africa, where SIM-card based payments are widespread. The deployment of so-called NFC payment technology, already slow to take off, could also be at risk, Nohl says, as well as the ability for carriers to track charges to each caller’s account.

There’s no obvious pattern to the flaw beyond the premise of an older encryption standard. “Different shipments of SIM cards either have [the bug] or not,” says Nohl, who is chief scientist at risk management firm Security Research Labs. “It’s very random.”

In his study, Nohl says just under a quarter of all the SIM cards he tested could be hacked, but given that encryption standards vary widely between countries, he estimates an eighth of the world’s SIM cards could be vulnerable, or about half a billion mobile devices.

Nohl, who was profiled by Forbes’ Andy Greenberg in 2011 for his work on breaking mobile encryption standards, believes it unlikely that cyber criminals have already found the bug. Now that word of the vulnerability is out, he expects it would take them at least six months to crack it, by which time the wireless industry will have implemented available fixes.

That effort may already be underway. Nohl says at least two large carriers have already tasked their staff with finding a patch for the SIM vulnerability, which they will share with other operators through the wireless trade body GSMA.

“Companies are surprisingly open to the idea of working cooperatively on security topics because the competition is somewhere else,” says Nohl. “The competition is organized crime, not AT&T versus T-Mobile.” (The situation in similarly in finance, where payment services like MasterCard, Visa, and American Express will work together under  industry association EMVco to improve security standards for smart cards.)

The market for SIMs is almost entirely fed by mobile carriers, and supplied by two leading global vendors, Gemalto and Oberthur Technologies. Both have profited heavily from the huge growth in mobile handsets: ten years ago there were 1 billion SIM cards worldwide, and today there are more than 5 billion, says ABI Research analyst John Devlin, though the market is slowly reaching a plateau. SIMs are thought to be one of the most secure parts of a phone, he added, and as the carrier’s property, are “key to their relationship between you and I, the subscriber.”

Vodafone would not answer questions about the level of encryption its SIM cards used, and referred all media questions to GSMA. Both Verizon and AT&T said they knew of Nohl’s research, but said their SIM profiles were not vulnerable to the flaw. AT&T added that it had used SIMs with triple Data Encryption Standards (3DES) for almost a decade; Verizon did not specify why its SIMs were not vulnerable.

The London-based GSMA said it had looked at Nohl’s analysis and concurred that “a minority of SIMs produced against older standards could be vulnerable.” It said it had already provided guidance to network operators and SIM vendors who could be impacted by the flaw. “There is no evidence to suggest that today’s more secure SIMs, which are used to support a range of advanced services, will be affected,” a spokesperson added.

Vacations In Santa Clarita - Leap Motion: Control Your PC Through Air Gestures

Source - http://www.usatoday.com/
By - Edward C. Baig
Category - Vacations In Santa Clarita
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

Vacations In Santa Clarita

You're not about to replace your mouse, trackpad, keyboard or even touch-screen as the chief ways to control your computer. But then you start using the new Leap Motion Controller and -- at least in some circumstances -- you can imagine relegating those other devices to the bench. 

Using the compact Leap Motion box, I was able reach out into the open space in front of my computer and pluck a digital harp, manipulate a three-dimensional rendering of molecular structures, dissect a frog and — in the popular game of the same title -- Cut The Rope. I didn't make physical contact with the computer or any other devices.

Leap Motion is a gesture-driven peripheral for PCs and Macs that I've been fascinated with ever since the South By Southwest Interactive conference in March where I had my first hands-on — nope, make that hands-above -- experience with the clever motion controller. Though my experience at home with Leap Motion wasn't perfect, I'm no less intoxicated not only by what it can already do but by what it promises to do in the future. 

For now, you can draw or paint with your fingers, mold 3-D objects, or explore Google Earth through hand gestures. You can interact using objects too.

Today, Leap Motion finally starts shipping to customers who preordered it for $79.99, considerably cheaper than the $249.99 Microsoft Kinect sensor that Leap Motion is inevitably compared to. Leap Motion reaches Best Buy stores July 28. The controller was originally supposed to ship in May.

The smallish (0.5 by 1.2. by 3-inch) rectangular unit plugs into the USB ports on a PC or Mac — both long and short proprietary USB cables are supplied. Once in place, the controller can detect even the subtlest hand and finger movements, anywhere inside an interaction area that goes about two feet above the controller, two feet out to either flank (150 degree angle) and a depth of two feet on each side (120 degree angle). You can use multiple hands and fingers, depending on the gestures required in the specific apps that work with the controller. For that matter, another person can stick their hands into this invisible cone of detection too and have the computer respond provided the hands aren't somehow overlapping in space. 

Inside the controller are two camera sensors and a pair of infrared LEDs, but the real wizardry arrives with the software. Leap Motion claims an accuracy level of up to 1/100th of a millimeter, and for the most part I found it responsive, though a couple of the apps that work with it crashed in my tests on an iMac and at least one lagged a bit. Figuring out and mastering the gestures within certain apps may take some trial and error -- at times the interaction gets a bit finicky.

You find compatible apps inside the aptly named Airspace store. Many are free, though others fetch 99 cents on up. Leap Motion has around 75 apps a modest but reasonably diverse sum. Some apps work on PCs and Macs, some just on one platform or the other. 

The Airspace store is nicely laid out, with sections devoted to music & entertainment apps, creative tools, science, education, productivity & utilities, and other categories. In the "experimental" apps section, you'll find Touchless for Mac and Touchless for Windows, free apps that let you create a "virtual trackpad" in the air for interacting with your computer. I tried the Mac version but didn't exactly excel at it right away. As I wrote this review inside Microsoft Word, I was able to scroll up or down by moving my entire hand towards the computer screen with my hand and then raising it up or down but it was just as easy to manipulate the trackpad the old fashion way. Through Touchless, you can do a "click" gesture by pointing a single finger towards the screen.

I didn't quite master the $2.99 Swoosh DJ app from a developer called Just Add Music Media either. But I had a good time with it anyway. Working in tandem with the music grooving inside iTunes, Swoosh simulates a spinning vinyl disc. Through gestures and movements, you can create reverb effects, or pause and restart a song. But for some reason whenever I tried playing songs in iTunes after using Swoosh, the volume within iTunes was turned all the way down.

I also had fun trying out the $3.99 Frog Dissection simulation app from Emantras, which lets you explore the inner organs of the amphibian wielding virtual scissors, scalpels and forceps -- mercifully without formaldehyde or a mess. 

I can't say it is easier reading the New York Times via their free Leap Motion app, than through more traditional methods. In fact, you feel slightly silly twirling your fingers in the air to navigate from one article to another, pointing and holding your finger to select what to read, and drawing clockwise circles to scroll up or counterclockwise circles to scroll down. And then when you're done reading the piece, you shake your entire hand to escape, which also isn't natural.

For now, you'll need the Leap Motion controller itself to exploit the company's technology. But Leap Motion has struck deals with Asus and Hewlett-Packard to embed 3-D motion control into machines from those computer makers.

During South by Southwest, Leap Motion marketing vice president Michael Zagorsek told me that the company hoped to make the user interface disappear altogether. "I'm not clicking on something to do something else, I'm not touching something to do something else. There is no interface, it's just me represented here," Zagorsek said.

To be sure, you'll still rely on the mouse and keyboard most of the time. But with Leap Motion you won't always have to.

Meeting Space Santa Clarita - This Is Why You Dislike Bing

Source - http://betanews.com/
By - Robert Johnson
Category - Meeting Space Santa Clarita
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

Meeting Space Santa Clarita

I love Bing. There aren’t many products (Xbox) that I’ll admit to being a fanboy of but Bing is getting pretty close to that status for me. I’m an oddity because most people don’t use Bing at all; either because they’ve used it and didn’t get the results they wanted, or based on word of mouth about it being so terrible. I don’t know where you fall, but I would bet most of you reading this don’t use or even like Bing. That’s unfortunate because you’re missing out.

Yes, Bing is good. But why do so many people hate it? Why do so many googlers refuse to even give it a try? Why do those who actually do give it a try, enter one search query, fail to get the results they want, and go back to Google, never giving Bing a second chance?

In April, SurveyMonkey conducted a study comparing Bing and Google. 641 test participants were given two pages of search results, one with Bing branding and the other Google, and were asked which results they preferred. Participants preferred the Google results.

In another survey 262 participants were given the same results but this time the branding was swapped: Google results labeled Bing and Bing results labeled Google. More people preferred the Bing results labeled Google.

When you look at both studies an interesting thing appears: more people preferred the Bing results labeled Google than the Google results labeled as Google. According to Matt Wallaert of the Bing team:

Before explaining the psychological forces at work here, let me put to rest any concerns of corporate trickery. Bing wasn’t involved in this study in any way. We didn’t even know it was happening until after the results were released, and since Google recently became a prominent investor in SurveyMonkey, it would be hard to argue that SurveyMonkey had a pro-Bing bias. To the best of our understanding from the outside, this was impartial, data-driven research done by an internal team at SurveyMonkey.

He goes on to explain why people chose based on brand rather than quality. The explanation is found in a psychology concept known as confirmation bias. According to the most accurate encyclopedia on the planet (that was a joke), confirmation bias is a "tendency of people to favor information that confirms their hypotheses".

Confirmation bias has to do with how people process information, particularly any way in which people avoid rejecting their assumptions whether they are searching for evidence, interpreting it, or recalling it from memory.

The Search for Evidence

In this bias, people hold a hypothesis which they assume to be true. They test it in such a way that requires an affirmative answer that supports their hypothesis. In other words, they tend to look for the evidence they would expect if their hypothesis were true. For example, if I assume Bing returns bad results, then I would be intentionally looking for all the bad results instead of the good ones.

Interpreting Evidence

In this bias a person will make a judgment call on the evidence to support their original hypothesis. For instance, again, if a person with a "Bing sucks" attitude, arrives at Bing results, they will interpret those results as bad. But if shown the same results labeled as Google, they will interpret them as good.

Recalling Evidence

Information is remembered selectively. That means that when a person has a positive experience with a service they inherently have a negative assumption about (i.e. Bing) they will only remember the ways in which that service provided a negative experience.

So what?

The point I am trying to make is this, perhaps confirmation bias is the reason why Bing is hated by so many people. Regardless of the fact that in some cases Bing still lags behind Google, in pure search results, I can count on one hand in the past two years where Bing has failed me. From the Bing blog:

Think of it this way: have you ever tried using Bing, not found what you wanted, and then immediately went back to using Google because "Google is better at search"? But then when you use Google and it doesn’t give you the right results, you change your search and try again because you "searched wrong", rather than giving Bing a try? That’s the confirmation bias: if you were truly trying to find out which search engine was better, you’d give them an equal chance to give you right and wrong answers.

This happens a lot. I’ve had people tell me that they’ve tried Bing and did not find what they were looking for. But something tells me that they were not looking hard enough because they didn’t overcome their inherent bias against Bing. I understand that Bing is not perfect and still has some growing to do. Remember, Google wasn’t perfect either and it took time for it to grow into what it is today. Bing is innovating at a rapid pace and although I would love to see it add features a little bit quicker, I’m a happy Bing user.

The Solution

My solution to this problem is this. Try Bing for 30 days. In other words, use Bing and nothing else for 30 days; use the maps, local search, general search, images and travel for 30 solid days and let me know how it goes. This is what I did back in 2010, about one year after Bing launched. I decided to give it an honest try. And I haven’t been back to Google since. Yes, I occasionally use Google when I don’t find what I need on Bing, but eventually I will stop using Google altogether because this behavior has not yielded any positive results for me: if I don’t find it on Bing, I typically don’t find it on Google either. Bing is just that good.

California Vacation Packages - Risk of Human-to-Human Spread of Deadly New Bird Flu Virus Higher Than Previously Thought

Source - http://news.yahoo.com/
By - Dina Fine Maron
Category - California Vacation Packages
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

California Vacation Packages

Before this year the H7N9 bird flu virus linked to 133 human infections and 43 deaths was never seen in people. All the available evidence suggests that an effective biological barrier apparently kept a pandemic at bay—humans only contracted the novel virus via direct contact with poultry or environments such as live bird markets rather than by human-to-human transmission. New analysis from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), however, suggests that the virus is closer to becoming a disease transmitted among humans than previously thought.

A large study comparing the genomes of the five reported human H7N9 strains with 37 H7N9 viruses isolated from more than 10,000 poultry market, farm and slaughterhouse samples from across China suggests that the virus would only need small mutations in its protein structure in order to become easily transmissible among humans. Moreover, testing in ferrets—widely considered to the best proxy for humans in flu testing—finds that one lethal strain of the virus that killed the first H7N9 victim in China is transmissible via respiratory droplet, meaning that it could conceivably be spread by coughing and sneezing. The new results are published in Science today. “Our findings indicate nothing to reduce the concern that these viruses can transmit between humans,” says study author Hualan Chen of the CAAS.

The new findings are “worrisome,” says Charles Chiu, an infectious disease expert at the University of California, San Francisco. “For this particular virus, for H7N9, whether or not there is human-to-human transmission is a critical question.”

Since April the number of H7N9 cases has abruptly dropped, but public health officials are concerned that, like other avian influenza viruses that have seasonal infection patterns, H7N9 could mount a resurgence in the fall. With more cases of H7N9 there would be more opportunities for the virus to mutate among humans and, consequently, make the necessary amino acid changes to create human-to-human transmissible H7N9. The H7N9 viruses isolated from birds and humans are already closely genetically related. In the Science analysis researchers found the viruses can bind to human airway receptors, but they maintain the ability to bind to avian airway receptors, too. In order for the virus to be transmissible among humans, it must further mutate to lose its ability to bind to avian airway receptors—a genetic re-sorting the authors say might be possible with only a few amino acid changes.

The Science paper’s results diverge somewhat from earlier research. A study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control published in Nature last week also considered H7N9 transmission in ferrets and found that although ferrets housed together transmit the flu, when the animals were physically separated but shared the same air via a net between their cages, the healthy ferrets only rarely contracted the virus. In that work CDC researchers looked at respiratory droplet transmission in two different strains of H7N9 and found that in a strain originating in Anhui Province, China, only two out of six ferrets contracted the virus whereas in a strain from Shanghai, only one out of three ferrets contracted the virus. (Scientific American is part of Nature Publishing Group.)

In the new study researchers also looked at multiple H7N9 strains and found the virus was similarly transmitted via direct contact. But in contrast to the authors of the Nature reports, they found that all three ferrets exposed to the Anhui H7N9 strain contracted the virus when exposed via respiratory droplets. The Science study authors ran the experiment twice and received the same results.

The significance of the conflicting airborne infection figures from the two studies is unclear because both studies looked at very small numbers of ferrets. Some of the discrepancy could have stemmed from differences in the lab environments. Alternatively, the virus may have changed slightly as the samples grew in the labs. What these studies, along with other existing research, make clear is that H7N9 can indeed spread via airborne transmission, but that this mode of transmission is not very effective compared with direct contact, says Richard Webby, an influenza expert at Saint Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. The new Science report “adds a whole lot of data to the growing list of evidence that this virus is something we need to be worried about,” he says.

Adding to the virus transmission concerns is the fact that chickens, ducks and mice experimentally infected with avian strains of H7N9 show no visible disease symptoms. In outbreaks of H5N1, another flu strain, severely infected poultry served as a warning knell for human infection. But H7N9 could silently spread in poultry markets and there would be no easy way to detect it.

Chiu says that the new findings should prompt more robust surveillance of poultry populations. Other public health measures to combat the virus in humans include washing hands, avoiding touching the eyes, nose and mouth, and coughing into the elbow to help stop the spread of transmission. “Replication in humans,” the authors wrote, “will provide further opportunities for the virus to acquire more mutations and become more virulent and transmissible in the human population.”

Hotels In Northern California - A Pregnant Pause: 8 Things Every Woman Should Know About PCOS

Source - http://shine.yahoo.com/
By - Babble.com
Category - Hotels In Northern California
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

Hotels In Northern California

Are you having trouble getting pregnant? Do you have an onset of adult acne? Is your hair starting to fall out? Then you might just have some other signs of PCOS, too.

Polycystic (pah-lee-SIS-tik) ovary syndrome, commonly known as PCOS, affects as many as 5 million women in the United States. It is the result of a hormonal imbalance whereby the ovaries make more androgens than normal. Androgens are male hormones that females also make, and having higher than normal levels of these hormones affects the development and release of eggs during ovulation. In women with PCOS, mature eggs are not released from the ovaries, and instead become very small cysts inside the ovary.

I have PCOS. It was not until I had issues with infertility that it was discovered, but looking back the diagnosis makes a lot of sense. (That is a sentiment I have heard from several women who have it as well.) PCOS is actually the most common cause of female infertility. Since then I have come to know my own symptoms (such as severe pelvic pain) and take medicine to ease them.

 Symptoms of PCOS can vary, and while there is no known cure - there are several treatment options available. Here is what you need to know about PCOS:

1. Causes

There is no one known cause of PCOS. Experts theorize that genetics can play a factor, though in my case that theory does not hold true.

A woman's level and resistance to insulin may also play a role in causing PCOS. Experts have found that many women with PCOS have too much insulin stored in their bodies because they have problems using it. Too much insulin in the body seems to increase the production of androgen, thus starting the hormonal imbalance that is PCOS.

2. Reproductive Symptoms and Concerns

Because of the high levels of androgens in the body, PCOS can result in reproductive issues, such as:

• Cysts on the ovaries
• Problems with ovulation
• Pelvic pain
• Infertility
• Irregular or painful menstrual periods

3. Cosmetic Symptoms and Concerns

There are cosmetic symptoms of PCOS too, including:

• Acne or oily skin
• Weight gain, often around the waist
• Issues with hair, such as: dandruff, thinning hair or hair loss
• Excessive hair growth on the face, chest, stomach, back, thumbs, or toes
• Dark patches of skin on the neck, arms, breasts, or thighs
• Skin tags - excess flaps of skin in the armpits or neck area
• Weight gain, often around the waist

4. Pregnancy Symptoms & Concerns

Many women (like myself) are diagnosed when they have fertility issues. However, there can also be issues arising from PCOS during pregnancy, such as:

• Miscarriage
• Gestational diabetes
• Pregnancy-induced high blood pressure
• Premature delivery

5. Long Term Symptoms and Concerns

Some of the other serious, more long-term concerns associated with PCOS are:

• Anxiety or depression
• Sleep apnea
• Diabetes
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Endometrial cancer

6. Tests

There is no single test to diagnose PCOS. If you or your doctor suspects that you may have PCOS, he or she will look at any or all of the following:

• Medical history
• Physical exam
• Pelvic exam
• Blood tests
• Vaginal ultrasound (sonogram)

7. Treatment Options

Treatment options may vary depending on whether you are at an age or stage where pregnancy is an issue. Some people may also wish to treat the issues that happen as a result of PCOS, such as acne and hair loss.

Most healthcare practitioners will encourage following a healthy lifestyle, including:

• limiting processed foods and high sugar foods
• eating healthy meals with lean meats, vegetables and whole grains
• engaging in regular moderate-to-vigorous exercise

8. Other Treatment Options

Other treatments for PCOS may include:

• Birth control pills (for those who do not wish to be pregnant)
• Progesterone pills (such as Provera)
• Diabetes medications (such as Metformin, which is also known as Glucophage)
• Fertility medications (for those who wish to become pregnant)
• "Ovarian drilling" surgery (for those who wish to become pregnant who have not responded to fertility medications)
• Anti-androgen medicines (such as Spironolactone or Finasteride)

Again, please note that treatment options will vary from person-to-person and all treatment options should be discussed with a healthcare practitioner.

Santa Clarita Local Colleges - Windows 8 Tablets: A Confusing World For Buyers

Source - http://www.zdnet.com/
By - James Kendrick
Category - Santa Clarita Local Colleges
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

Santa Clarita Local Colleges

The choice by Microsoft to make Windows 8 an OS for desktops, laptops, and tablets has been cheered by many and jeered at by others. Whatever side of the Windows 8 for every device camp you fall on the fact is that the multi-dimensional OS is here to stay. Microsoft wants everyone to buy Windows 8 tablets and numerous models are starting to hit the market. 

Tablets running Windows 8 come in all sizes and styles, each trying to get consumers to purchase one rather than the competition, iPads and Android tablets. Having choice is always a good thing for prospective buyers but that may not be the case when it comes to tablets running Windows 8.

Buyers looking for an iPad have a choice of two sizes and that's it. The purchase decision comes down to which size you want, large or small. The decision is easy with storage space the only option other than size. Most buyers don't want integrated LTE and it usually doesn't enter the purchase decision process.

Shoppers wanting an Android tablet have more options but many of them end up getting a Samsung tablet. It's the biggest selling brand in the Android tablet space. Samsung offers several different sizes so once the consumer decides on how big a tablet is desired the purchase decision is straightforward.

Samsung tablets come with different storage sizes and like the iPad that's the only real decision for purchase. Like the iPad, Samsung Galaxy tablets all run good ARM processors and similar hardware components. 

Even the budget Nexus 7 tablet has good hardware inside and buyers don't have to wade through various internal hardware options.

The same is not true for those looking at the Windows 8 tablet. While tablets of different sizes are beginning to appear on the market, size is only one of several choices that may end up confusing prospective buyers.

The big choice confronting Windows 8 tablets is of course the Windows RT vs Windows 8 option. Buyers will often find Windows RT on the cheapest of the tablets available, due to the ARM processor inside (like the iPad and Android tablets). The fact that legacy Windows apps cannot be installed on Windows RT tablets is another reason these tablets are cheaper than full Windows models. While current advertising leads buyers to believe that Windows RT and Windows 8 are the same, there's a big difference in the two as noted above.

Once the choice to get a tablet with full Windows 8 is made, buyers need to get familiar with the different Intel processors being used before making a purchase. Most of the cheaper tablets have an Atom processor inside, and while that handles common tasks with ease they aren't the best performing choice. Buyers may end up frustrated by lags doing typical tasks like watching video with the Atom.

To get the best performance possible on tablets running Windows 8 buyers need to go with full Intel Core processors. That usually drives the prices up significantly, even double that of the iPad or Android tablet. That choice also hits the battery life hard, dropping it from near all day utility to just four or five hours. That's not even close to what the competition delivers.

It's no wonder that tablet buyers may be confused when it comes to buying a Windows 8 tablet. There are two versions of Windows to choose from along with several different processor options. The choices can overwhelm non-techie buyers, who often end up buying based on price.

In the Windows world low price means inferior processors which translates into low performance. The buyer will likely end up less than thrilled with the tablet for this reason.

So the typical tablet shopper can choose from the iPad, Android tablet, or Windows tablet. The iPad decision just involves a single model making the purchase process simple. The same is basically true for Android tablets as most branded tablets come with a single model. The iPad and Android tablets all have powerful hardware configurations that run all available apps with ease.

That's not the case with Windows tablets. Some run all Windows apps, some don't, and depending on the hardware inside some tablets may not run heavy apps very well if at all. The only tablets that run all Windows apps well are the high-end models that come with prices that are much higher than the competition. It's no wonder tablet buyers seem to be going with the competition much more often than the Windows 8 options.

Hotel In Santa Clarita - Timing Of First Solid Food Tied To Child Diabetes Risk

Source -  http://www.denverpost.com/
By - Kathryn Doyle
Category - Hotel In Santa Clarita
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

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When babies already at increased risk for type 1 diabetes had their first solid foods before four months of age or after six months, their chances of developing the disorder at least doubled, according to a new study.

Four to six months is the recommended age window for all kids to start on solid foods, but the new results suggest timing could be even more important for babies at high risk for type 1 diabetes (T1D) because of genetic susceptibility.

The results weren't totally surprising, according to senior author Jill Norris, since type 1 diabetes is a lifelong disease in which the immune system attacks the cells that make insulin and previous research has found that the development of certain immune cells is related to the introduction of solid foods.

"We did not choose this window out of the blue," said Norris, who studies chronic diseases like diabetes at the University of Colorado, Denver.

But this was the first study to examine how many kids were actually diagnosed with diabetes.

"We think the clearest message for parents is to wait to introduce any solid foods until after the 4 month birthday," Norris told Reuters Health in an email. "And when baby is ready, solid foods should be introduced by 6 months of age or soon thereafter, preferably while the mother is still breast-feeding the baby."

Norris and her coauthors followed 1,835 children at high risk for type 1 diabetes - based on genetic testing done at birth or family history - until they were eight years old. Fifty-three children were diagnosed with the disease.

Infants first given solid food before they were four months old were almost two times as likely to develop the disease as those given solid food during the ideal age window. Kids who got solid food after they were six months old were three times as likely to be diagnosed with the disease.

There are many other risk factors at play for these kids, for example, when there were complications during vaginal birth, the children were also about twice as likely to develop the disease, regardless of when solid food was introduced.

Of the 53 kids who did get diabetes, 28 had been given solid food before four months of age, and seven hadn't tried solid food until after six months, according to results in JAMA Pediatrics.

"We hypothesize that at a very young age, an infant's gut and immune systems may not be ready for the new food, triggering a cascade of reactions that lead to autoimmune diseases, like T1D, in susceptible children," Norris said.

Although the study stratified results by food types, there is not yet enough evidence to recommend which foods are best to introduce when, she said. But she did stress the importance of continuing to breastfeed while transitioning to solid food, since this study and others suggest that breast milk has a protective effect.

About 3 million Americans have type 1 diabetes and need to closely monitor their blood sugar levels and take insulin several times daily. The study was limited to only 53 kids who eventually got the disease, which makes the results less powerful, the authors write.

"The children enrolled in this study were selected because they were at a higher genetic risk of developing type 1 diabetes," Norris said.

Kids who are not predisposed to the disease might not have the same results, she said.

"As the authors state themselves in the article, these findings need confirmation from other studies," said Dr. Suvi Virtanen of the National Institute for Health and Welfare in Helsinki, Finland. "The number of children who got diabetes is still very small in the current study as it is also in most of the previous studies done in this field."

"We do not yet know how to prevent type 1 diabetes," she told Reuters Health. More studies need to corroborate the results first.

Although following the nutritional recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Institute of Medicine does decrease the risk of kids becoming overweight and obese, "parents cannot now do anything to prevent this disease in their children, and it's important not to worry them before we really know."

Vacations In Santa Clarita - Astronomers For First Time Determine Color Of a Planet Outside Solar System _ It's Blue

Source - http://www.startribune.com/
By - JAMES BROOKS
Category - Vacations In Santa Clarita
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

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Astronomers have for the first time managed to determine the color of a planet outside our solar system, a blue gas giant 63 light-years away.

Using the Hubble Space Telescope, an international team said the planet known as HD 189733B would look like a deep blue dot if viewed up close.

"Measuring the planet's color is a real first — we have never managed it before with a planet outside our own solar system," Frederic Pont of the University of Exeter in England said Friday.

While Earth looks blue from space because of its oceans, the astronomers said the planet's color was created by a hazy turbulent atmosphere of silicate particles that scatter blue light. To determine the planet's color, the team measured the amount of light reflected off its surface as it passed behind its star.

Discovered in 2005, the planet belongs to a class of giant gas planets called "hot Jupiters" that orbit close to their stars. It has a daytime temperature of around 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,832 F), and the heat causes rocks to evaporate and glass to possibly rain sideways in howling 4,500 mph (about 7,250 kph) winds.

Astronomers chose the planet for observation because of its proximity to Earth and size in relation to the star it orbits. A light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles.

Pont said the technology the astronomers used pushed the Hubble telescope to its limit given the distance and light from other stars obscuring their view.

"People keep coming up with a better way of viewing planets indirectly so I'm sure the technology will eventually improve," Pont said.

Budget Hotels Santa Clarita - Justin Bieber Apologizes For Presidential Antics

Source - http://music.yahoo.com/
By - CARYN ROUSSEAU
Category - Budget Hotels Santa Clarita
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

Budget Hotels Santa Clarita

Justin Bieber apologized by phone to Bill Clinton, the former president's office said Thursday, for cursing Clinton and spraying his photo with cleaning fluid in a New York City restaurant kitchen earlier this year. 

The pop star also had repercussions from a tour stop in Chicago earlier this week when city officials said Bieber was listed as an underage guest on a citation that police issued to a nightclub.

Clinton's office said Thursday the pop star called and "he apologized and offered to help the Clinton Foundation." Clinton's office declined to provide any other details.

A video released Wednesday by TMZ.com shows the 19-year-old Bieber urinating in a mop bucket as he and others race through the restaurant kitchen. Before exiting, Bieber sprays the Clinton photo and drops the F-bomb in reference to the former president.

Bieber tweeted to his more than 41 million followers Wednesday night, thanking Clinton "for taking the time to talk." Bieber tweeted: "Your words meant alot. #greatguy."

Separately, Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection spokeswoman Jennifer Lipford confirmed Thursday that the 19-year-old Bieber was listed as an underage guest on a citation of Bodi nightclub. Police cited the club early Wednesday for admitting and knowingly having an underage person in the establishment, she said.

Bieber performed in a concert at Chicago's United Center on Tuesday evening.

The next step is for the citation to go to an administrative hearing. The club faces a fine of up to $1,000. A date hasn't been set.

Bodi issued a statement saying Bieber made a brief appearance to support a friend who is a DJ and was performing at the nightclub. The club said Bieber was not served alcohol.

"Neither Justin nor anyone affiliated with Bodi broke any laws," the statement said. "We believe this matter amounts to a simple misunderstanding with local police officers."

A representative for Bieber did not immediately have comment.

In California, the rapper known as Lil Twist was arrested for investigation of driving under the influence after being stopped while behind the wheel of Bieber's luxury sports car.

Christopher Moore, 20, was pulled over around 3:30 a.m. Thursday on a Calabasas road leading to a gated community where Bieber lives, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore.

Moore was driving a 2012 Fisker registered to the pop star and going between 60 and 70 mph in an area that has a 30 mph speed limit because of construction, authorities said.

Investigators think Moore might have been under the influence of marijuana. Bail was set at $5,000 for the misdemeanor offense. Moore is signed to Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment label imprint. An email seeking comment was sent to his record label.

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita - Instagram Launches Embed Feature For Videos, Photos. Start Sharing!

Source - http://www.latimes.com/
By - Jessica Guynn
Category - Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita 

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita

Last month when Instagram launched video to compete with Twitter's Vine, there was a collective groan. It lacked a key feature: the ability to embed videos elsewhere on the Web.

So, just to make their visual moments much more visible, crafty people came up with all kinds of complicated workarounds that were not supported by Instagram and could, of course, break at any time.

Instagram says it heard time and again impassioned pleas from users who didn't want to train as software engineers to embed their photos and videos. So starting Wednesday, you can share your favorite Instagram moments with the world as easily as with YouTube or other digitally forward services.

A new share button will let you embed your Instagram videos and photos anywhere (except Twitter, naturally). And, of course, marketers can use this handy new button, too, a key selling point as Instagram looks to conquer the world of visual social sharing and start building a moneymaking business.

How it works: When you visit an Instagram photo or video page on your desktop Web browser, you'll see a new share button on the right side of your photo (just under the comments button). Click the button to see the embed code. Copy the block of text it gives you and paste it into your blog, website or article. When you hit publish, the photo or video will appear. 

 

Instagram also says please don't worry: "As always, you own your photos and videos, and we want to make sure that's understood no matter where your content appears." (That's now a standard line in every Instagram announcement after this happened.)

The embedded photo or video appears with your Instagram user name. If people click on the Instagram logo, they'll be whisked to your Instagram page. And never fear, no one is going to be able to embed those photos or videos that you really should have done on Snapchat in the first place. Embedding works only for photos and videos that are public, not for private ones, Instagram says.

This kind of worldwide Web distribution should make it a lot easier for Justin Bieber to take over the rest of the known digital universe and for Paris Hilton to get even more people to gush over videos of her puppies.

It's also part of a major effort from Facebook not just to be in the moment but to capture the moment.

Whether it's the Boston Marathon bombings or the Oscars, Instagram is well positioned to do just that with images that can be quickly blasted across the Web and universally understood across all borders and language barriers.

Twitter has ruled the world of real time with its short messages that have telegraph breaking news as it happens, but it looks like Instagram could pose a serious threat to its real-time rule.