Hotels In Northern California - World of Warcraft Loses 1.3 Million Subscribers in 3 Months

Source - http://www.escapistmagazine.com/
By - Stew Shearer
Category - Hotels In Northern California
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

Hotels In Northern California

The world of massively multiplayer online gaming has seen some dramatic transitions in the past few years. Even with landscape changing things like the advent and increasing quality of free-to-play games, however, one constant has remained untouched: World of Warcraft is the king.

That being the case, the king's subjects have been shrinking in numbers over the years. In 2010, the massively popular MMORPG had more than 12 million subscribers. Af ew years later that number would fall to about 9 million before climbing back up to 10 million following the 2012 Mists of Panderia expansion. While this uptick was good news for the aging MMORPG, it seems to have been only temporary. World of Warcraft's user base has again declined, falling by more than 1.3 million subscribers between January and March of 2013.

To its credit, the game's publisher, Activision Blizzard, doesn't seem at all phased by the news. Part of this has to do with the fact that the game still remains "the number one subscription-based MMORPG in the world' and is still a valuable cash cow. That said, a gradual decline in the game's user base is something its publisher had been expecting. "We do believe further declines are likely, and we expect to have fewer subscribers a year than we do today," said Bobby Kotick, Activision Blizzard's CEO. "We believe in the long-term value of this franchise and will continue to commit substantial resources to World of Warcraft."

Even if the publisher were to cut off funds tomorrow and shutter the long running MMO, it would still have had an impressive run. In addition to making oodles of money, the massive popularity of World of Warcraft helped expose more general audiences to MMOs. Likewise, while some gamers may be leaving, there are millions more who have stuck with World of Warcraft through thick and thin and remain enthusiastic members of its magical universe. The day might come where this isn't the case, but that's a future that seems so far off it's beyond the sight of anyone looking.

Vacations In Santa Clarita - China Trade Data Beats Expectations, Skepticism Remains

Source - http://www.reuters.com/
By - Langi Chiang and Jonathan Standing
Category - Vacations In Santa Clarita
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

Vacations In Santa Clarita

China's exports rose 14.7 percent in April, while imports grew 16.8 percent, leaving the country with a trade surplus of $18.16 billion for the month, the Customs Administration said on Wednesday.

That compared with market expectations for a 10.3 percent rise in exports, a 13.9 percent increase in imports and a trade surplus of $15.1 billion.

From a month earlier, exports edged up 2.7 percent while imports fell 7.7 percent.

Chinese export data in recent months has seemed to signal to a gradual revival of external demand, though some analysts suspect exporters may have overstated their business to sneak funds into the country and avoid capital restrictions.

"I have no strong conviction whether the data reflects reality. We'll focus on next Monday's activities data," said Zhiwei Zhang, chief China economist at Nomura in Hong Kong.

"China's SAFE recently launched new rules to crack down against capital inflows disguised as trade payments. I'm suspicious about the trade data," Zhang said, referring to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

The regulator released new rules on Sunday to crack down on hot money inflows disguised as trade payments.

A Reuters estimate of hot money flows based on official data indicates that $181 billion in speculative cash entered China in the first quarter, fuelled in part by loose monetary policy from the United States and Europe.

SIGNS OF WEAKNESS

Adding to the skepticism over the trade data, a pair of PMI surveys last week showed growth in China's vast factory sector eased in April as new export orders shrank. However, in the trade figures, manufacturers were among the sectors reporting increases in exports in the month.

In addition, the customs figures showed a 57 percent jump in exports to Hong Kong and a 250 percent rise in exports to bonded areas, adding weight to theories that goods are not being exported to final destinations.

"In 1Q13, China's export data were heavily distorted due to over-reporting by exporters who might bring in hot money through fake exports and arbitrage the differential between CNH/USD and CNY/USD by moving goods in and out of HK," Bank of America Merrill Lynch economist Ting Lu wrote in a report on Wednesday's data, referring to offshore and onshore yuan currency rates.

"The evidence includes the abnormally strong exports to bonded areas and Hong Kong."

Spot onshore yuan hit a fresh record high of 6.1424 per dollar on Wednesday, on strong corporate demand and expectations of further policy reforms to liberalize the exchange rate. <CNY/>

The latest export figures also don't chime with those from other regional economies. South Korea and Taiwan posted weaker-than-expected exports for April, showing the fragility of global demand.

Taiwan's government said on Wednesday it will cut this year's economic growth forecast due to sluggish export data.

Although the United States posted firm jobs numbers for April, they followed a series of weak data, while the recession-hit euro zone has record unemployment.

However, there were positives in the data. While China's exports to the United States fell 0.1 percent in April and those to the EU fell 6.4 percent, the rates of decline were much less than March's declines of 6.5 percent and 14 percent, respectively.

Exports to ASEAN countries rose 37.3 percent and those to South Korea were up 7.2 percent.

"I think the export growth must be supported to some extent by the real overseas demand, adding to signs of gradual revival in the world economy," said Shen Lan, economist at Standard Chartered in Shanghai.

"With Beijing tightening checks on hot money inflows disguised as trade transactions, I think the export figures in the coming months will more reflect the real underlying momentum of external demand."

China's economy unexpectedly stumbled in the first quarter, growing 7.7 percent from a year earlier versus a rise of 7.9 percent in the previous three months.

A Reuters poll in April had forecast second-quarter annual growth of 8.00 percent and most economists expect a steady and gentle economic recovery this year.
 

Meeting Space Santa Clarita - Exercise Cuts Kidney Stone Risk In Women

Source - http://news.yahoo.com/
By - MARILYNN MARCHIONE
Category - Meeting Space Santa Clarita
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

Meeting Space Santa Clarita

Women have another reason to exercise: It may help prevent kidney stones. You don't have to break a sweat or be a super athlete, either. Even walking for a couple hours a week can cut the risk of developing this painful and common problem by about one-third, a large study found.

"Every little bit makes a difference" and the intensity doesn't matter — just getting a minimum amount of exercise does, said Dr. Mathew Sorensen of the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle.

He led the study, which was to be discussed Friday at an American Urological Association conference in San Diego.

About 9 percent of people will get a kidney stone sometime in their life. The problem is a little more common in men, but incidence has risen 70 percent over the last 15 years, most rapidly among women.

Obesity raises the risk as do calcium supplements, which many women take after menopause. A government task force recently advised against supplements for healthy older women, saying that relatively low-dose calcium pills don't do much to keep bones strong but make kidney stones more likely.

The new research involved nearly 85,000 women 50 and older in the government-funded Women's Health Initiative study. All had an exam to measure weight and height so doctors could figure out their body mass index, a gauge of obesity. They also filled out annual surveys on what they ate, so researchers could take into account things known to lower the risk of kidney stones, such as drinking a lot of fluids and eating less salt or meat.

Participants said how much exercise they usually got and that was translated into "METs" — a measure of how much effort an activity takes. For example, 10 METs per week is about 2 1/2 hours of walking at a moderate pace, four hours of light gardening or one hour of jogging.

After about eight years, 3 percent of the women had developed a kidney stone. Compared to women who got no leisure-time exercise, those who got up to 5 METs per week had a 16 percent lower risk for stones. The risk was 22 percent lower with 5 to 10 METs per week and 31 percent lower for 10 METs or more. Exercise beyond 10 METs added no additional benefit for kidney stone prevention. Exercise intensity didn't matter — just how much women got each week.

"We're not asking people to run marathons. This is just a very mild to moderate additional amount of activity," Sorensen said.

Why might exercise help? It changes the way the body handles nutrients and fluids that affect stone formation. Exercisers sweat out salt and tend to retain calcium in their bones, rather than having these go into the kidneys and urine where stones form. They also tend to drink water and fluids afterwards, another plus for preventing stones.

"There's something about exercise itself that probably produces things in your urine that prevent stone formation," said one expert not involved in the work, Dr. Kevin McVary. He is chairman of urology at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield, Ill., and a spokesman for the urology group. "It's not just being skinny or not being fat, it's something about the exercise that protects you."

Exercise is known to cut the risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and other conditions that raise the risk of kidney stones. Next, researchers want to study men and younger women to see if exercise helps prevent kidney stones in them, too .

Santa Clarita Local Colleges - Obama To Use Austin Visit To Push Ideas To Help Middle Class

Source - http://www.dallasnews.com/
By - TODD J. GILLMAN
Category - Santa Clarita Local Colleges
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

Santa Clarita Local Colleges

President Barack Obama will use Thursday’s trip to Austin to kick off a “Middle-Class Jobs and Opportunity Tour,” showcasing high-tech companies and schools that are preparing students with cutting-edge technology skills, an aide said Sunday.

In Austin and its surroundings, Obama will visit Manor New Tech High School. He’ll also meet with technology entrepreneurs and visit a high-tech company — as yet unidentified — to spotlight Austin as a hub for innovation and job creation.

“Even though some in Congress are determined to create more self-inflicted economic wounds, there are things Washington could be doing right now to help American businesses, schools and workers,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.

“We need to build on the progress we’ve made over the last four years, and that means investing in things that are already creating good-paying, stable jobs that can support a middle-class family.”

The president also will meet with Austin workers to “discuss his vision for ensuring that hard work leads to a decent living,” Earnest said.

This is Obama’s second trip to Texas in two weeks. Aides made no mention of whether the president would tuck a political fundraiser into his schedule, as he did in Dallas on the eve of the George W. Bush library dedication and in Austin two years earlier after a border tour in El Paso.

This Austin visit — and day trips Obama will take every several weeks as part of this “Opportunity Tour” — are meant to prod Congress to embrace his views on ways to speed economic recovery.

The Austin trip is meant to put a focus on making America a magnet for jobs, ensuring that workers have the skills they need to compete and earn a livable wage. To that end, the president will push for expanded early-childhood education and a minimum-wage increase, according to aides.

Hotel In Santa Clarita - Acer Shows Off Aspire P3 Ultrabook, Aspire R7 Laptop With Innovative Designs

Source - http://www.zdnet.com/
By - Sean Portnoy
Category - Hotel In Santa Clarita
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

Hotel In Santa Clarita

Acer is looking to make a splash with its latest notebook offerings -- and it sure appears to have succeeded. The tech world is abuzz about its new Aspire R7 laptop (pictured above), which features what the company calls an "Ezel Hinge" that literally provides a different view of a portable display.

The design allows you to use the Aspire R7 in a variety of modes, from a traditional laptop to tablet style with the screen laying flat to what Acer calls "Ezel" mode, where the hinge allows you to bring the display closer or even flip it around. Despite that flexibility, the company promises that you can use the 15.6-inch display's touchscreen capabilities without it moving all around, and in theory, the Ezel mode makes using touchscreen features easier as you can pull the screen closer to you.

As a notebook, the R7 includes an Intel Core i5 CPU, 6GB of RAM, 500GB hard drive with 24GB of solid-state storage for faster boot-ups, and Dolby Home Theater sound. But the unique design is the selling point here, and fortunately Acer has made buying the R7 not so difficult on the wallet. It will be available through Best Buy for $999 and start shipping on May 17.

While not as radical as the R7, the new Aspire P3 is a convertible Ultrabook that's also moderately priced. The Windows 8 system will come with a choice of either Intel Core i3 or i5 CPUs, and its 11.6-inch IPS display detaches to function as a tablet. (You can also use it with an optional stylus.) The keyboard is tinier than a typical notebook sports, and it lacks a touchpad, though there's a USB 3.0 port that you can use to attach a mouse or other input device to. Our sister site CNET lists some additional specs, including either 2GB or 4GB of RAM and either 60GB or 120GB SSD.

Priced starting at $799.99 and available now, the P3 might be a better alternative for some users than dedicated Windows 8 tablets for a similar cost, as you essentially get a bigger screen and a keyboard and case/cover in a 3-pound package. If nothing else, it delivers on the promise of Windows 8 ushering in some different types of portable devices.
 

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita - NYC's Met To Return 2 10th-Century Stone Statues

Source - http://abcnews.go.com
By - Press Release
Category - Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita

Two ancient stone statues that have been on display in a New York City museum for nearly 20 years are being returned to Cambodia.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art said Friday the 10th-century Koh Ker stone statues are being returned after researchers discovered new evidence about how they were acquired.

The statues are called "Kneeling Attendants." The Met says the decision to return them was made after a recent meeting between museum officials and representatives of the Cambodian government in their country's capital, Phnom Penh (puh-NAHM' pehn).

The Met says it received the statues in pieces from different donors between 1987 and 1992.

A 1993 Cambodian law prohibited the removal of cultural artifacts without government permission.

Cambodian officials have claimed a similar statue was looted from a temple in Koh Ker, a remote region in the north.

Hotels In Northern California - Facebook Turns Friends Into IT Support

Source - http://www.informationweek.com/
By - Thomas Claburn
Category - Hotels In Northern California
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

Hotels In Northern California

Just as companies have warmed to the financial benefits of employee-supplied devices and have embraced the rent savings of offices that are open but smaller under the pretense of promoting interaction, Facebook has recognized the economic and security promise of deputizing users to provide customer support.

The social network, ever keen to increase user engagement, wants you to designate friends as Trusted Contacts who can restore access to your Facebook account "if you ever have trouble logging in." Don't call us, call a friend.

 Why might you have trouble logging in? Facebook doesn't say. A hacked account is one possibility, but presumably anyone who hijacks your account could alter your Trusted Contact list. And Facebook maintains a separate account reset process for hacked accounts, at facebook.com/hacked.

The most common scenario for resorting to Trusted Contacts is a forgotten password. This could be a relatively frequent occurrence, given that Facebook tends to keep users logged in, thereby obviating the need to type one's password and making it easier to forget.

Account recovery processes, however, have a long history of insecurity. For example, in 2008, the Yahoo Mail account of then vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was hacked when a University of Tennessee student reset the account password by answering what turned out to be obvious password recovery questions. The following year, Yahoo Mail's account recovery process was abused again to gain control over a Twitter administrative account.

A Facebook spokeswoman in an email said that there are also occasions when users lose access to the email account through which they log in to Facebook.

Facebook in a blog post suggests that the Trusted Contact account recovery process represents an improvement on answering security questions. "With trusted contacts, there's no need to worry about remembering the answer to your security question or filling out long web forms to prove who you are," the company says. "You can recover your account with help from your friends."

There's another security benefit too: Account compromises often occur as a result of social engineering attacks. While customer service personnel can be tricked into revealing personal information by people posing as account holders, friends presumably are less likely to be duped by an imposter soliciting sensitive data.

With Trusted Contacts, Facebook support personnel can expect fewer emails from users who can't log in to get their their social fix. What's more, Trusted Contacts could create a user retention halo effect: Users will probably be less likely to drift away from Facebook when their friends have entrusted them with the keys to their accounts.