Josh_Smith: Orangutans Love iPads, Gorillas Prefer Android - http://t.co/4YQxXbQQ

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Orangutans Love iPads, Gorillas Prefer Android - bit.ly/vWTkzc Il y a environ 2 heures via Plume??

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Packers beat Bears 35-21, clinch No. 1 seed (AP)

GREEN BAY, Wis. ? With the first five-touchdown game of his NFL career, Aaron Rodgers ensured that the Green Bay Packers' playoff road will go through Lambeau Field.

He also made sure the rival Chicago Bears will be spending the playoffs at home.

Rodgers broke a close game wide open by leading three quick scoring drives in the second half, and the Packers beat the Bears 35-21 on Sunday night.

Rodgers noted that he once threw six touchdowns in junior college ? also in a rivalry game ? but acknowledged this one was a little bit bigger.

"Yeah, this one's pretty special," Rodgers said.

With the win, the Packers (14-1) nailed down the No. 1 seed in the NFC and claimed another round of bragging rights in the NFL's most storied rivalry by knocking the Bears out of the playoff chase.

"We wanted the path to go through Lambeau," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said.

Rodgers threw a pair of touchdown passes to Jordy Nelson, another two to James Jones, and found tight end Jermichael Finley for a score. Rodgers was 21 of 29 for 283 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions when backup Matt Flynn took over for Rodgers with 7:54 left in the game.

Rodgers surpassed Lynn Dickey's single-season franchise record of 4,458 yards passing with one game left, although it's unclear how much Rodgers will play in the Packers' finale against Detroit.

The loss eliminated the Bears (7-8) from playoff contention and put the Atlanta Falcons in the playoffs.

Third-string running back Kahlil Bell rushed for 121 yards for the Bears, who trailed by only four early in the third quarter. But Rodgers drove the Packers for touchdowns on their next three possessions to put the game out of reach.

"When you play the Super Bowl champions, you have to be on top of your game," Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "Offensively, we did enough things to keep us in the game and have a chance to win the game at the end. But defensively we just didn't have it."

McCarthy said the team's run defense will be examined after the big performance by Bell, but added that the final score told the story.

"We won big," McCarthy said. "That's the bottom line."

Chicago came into Sunday on a four-game losing streak and beset by injuries. But the Bears were able to stay in the game with solid defense and tough running by Bell, who started because of injuries to Matt Forte and Marion Barber.

Rodgers' second-half fireworks proved to be too much for Chicago.

"Thirty-five points on that defense, that's a good night," McCarthy said.

The victory was the Packers' fourth over the Bears in 2011. Green Bay also beat Chicago in the 2010 regular-season finale, the NFC Championship game, and at Soldier Field on Sept. 25.

With the Bears trailing 14-3 at halftime, quarterback Josh McCown found Earl Bennett wide open for a 49-yard gain to set up first-and-goal on the 1. Bell fumbled just short of the goal line on the next play but offensive lineman Edwin Williams recovered the ball for a touchdown.

With the Packers nursing a four-point lead, and the Lambeau Field crowd nervously quiet early in the third quarter, Rodgers answered by dropping deep and throwing a rainbow pass to Nelson, who blew through the Chicago secondary and hauled in the ball for a 55-yard touchdown.

Rodgers then showed his running ability on the Packers' next possession, juking his way between Bears linebackers Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs on a scramble. Rodgers finished the drive with a 7-yard touchdown toss to Jones, giving the Packers a commanding 28-10 lead.

Packers safety Charlie Peprah came up with an interception, and Rodgers found Nelson for another score to give Green Bay a 35-10 lead.

"It just hasn't gone the way we wanted to," Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher said. "If we play like this, that's what's going to happen. The last five weeks, we haven't played well enough to win, and we've lost all five games. We're not real happy where we're at. Our coaches aren't happy, but that's what we get."

McCown finally answered with a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Kellen Davis ? then drew the ire of the Lambeau crowd by scrambling for a two-point conversion and spiking the ball over the goalpost with his team trailing 35-18.

Rodgers' offensive feats came behind a patchwork offensive line, as the Packers were without three of their top four tackles.

Chad Clifton returned to practice this week after sitting out since October because of hamstring and back injuries, but isn't ready to play. Bryan Bulaga was inactive Sunday because of a left knee sprain, and backup Derek Sherrod is out for the season with a broken right leg.

Green Bay also was missing wide receiver Greg Jennings, because of a sprained left knee, and defensive lineman Ryan Pickett because of a concussion.

The Bears have lost five straight games since losing quarterback Jay Cutler to a broken right thumb in a Nov. 20 victory over San Diego. Chicago was 7-3 after that win, but came into Sunday's game barely alive in the playoff chase.

The Bears started McCown on Sunday after backup Caleb Hanie struggled to fill in for Cutler. McCown's most recent start came with the Oakland Raiders in 2007, and he was out of the NFL last season.

"It's a tough assignment, but you've got to find a way to pull it off," McCown said.

To make matters worse for the Bears' offense, Barber was inactive because of a calf injury. Chicago already was without Forte, who missed his third straight game because of a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee.

Notes: Sunday's attendance was 70,574, the team's 300th consecutive sellout, including the playoffs. ... Bears offensive lineman Lance Louis left the game in the first half because of an illness. ... Packers RB James Starks bruised an ankle.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111226/ap_on_sp_fo_ga_su/fbn_bears_packers

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Brazil's Environment Institute fines Chevron for oil spill

Ever hurt yourself during the holidays?

1. Yes, quite a few times actually
2. Yes, once
3. Never
4. Can't remember

photos New photos of the Rena (6 photos)

Over 280 of the 1368 shipping containers have been removed from the stricken cargo ship Rena since it ran aground on the? View

Traffic Update

Auckland

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" + direction + " " + stat.name + ": " + stat.level + "

"); $('#trafficcontent').append($div); }); // set cookie so this tab is remembered when we come back $.cookie('traffic',road.abbrev,{expires:365}); }); // if nothing is selected yet select the first tab, otherwise see if we can match the cookie if (road.abbrev == $.cookie('traffic')){ selected_li = $li; } $('#traffictabs').append($li); }); // end of closure / loop // if something was selected via cookie then click it if (selected_li) { selected_li.click(); // otherwise pick something random } else { var tabs = $('#traffictabs li') var index = Math.floor(Math.random() * (tabs.length)); $(tabs[index]).click(); $.cookie('traffic',null); } });

Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10775181&ref=rss

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China praises Kim Jong Il despite sometimes strained ties

Reporting from Beijing?

For the Chinese government, a dead Kim Jong Il is a popular Kim Jong Il.

In life, the North Korea leader was a constant irritant to Beijing with his dangerous nuclear ambitions and his stubborn refusal to reform an economy that left the population starving.

Although Chinese officials rarely criticize North Korea openly, they quietly suspended energy assistance and demanded cash in advance for sales at times when they were angry about the nuclear program. They sometimes have been stingy with food aid and have said publicly that North Korea needs to overhaul its economy.

But since Kim's death was announced Monday, the Chinese government has practically outdone the North Korean propaganda machine in its adulation. Scholars say that approach is a reflection of the fear that North Korea could collapse and needs to be propped up.

"Kim Jong Il is immortal," the Chinese government proclaimed on the front page of the People's Daily on Tuesday.

"A friend's departure," the English-language China Daily splashed in large black letters across its front page.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao was photographed bowing reverently in front of a photograph of Kim at the North Korean Embassy in Beijing.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi telephoned his South Korean counterpart to warn Seoul against any actions or statement that would "provoke" Pyongyang during the mourning period, South Korea news reports said Thursday.

Although ideologically the Chinese Communist Party opposes hereditary succession, Beijing almost immediately endorsed Kim's 27-year-old son, Kim Jong Un, as the next leader.

"Even in Mao's time, such a thing couldn't happen. It makes people think of a feudal state," said Zhu Feng, a scholar at Peking University. Nevertheless, Zhu said, China has been reluctant to criticize at this time. "I think it is Chinese culture. If somebody is dead, whether he is good or evil, you don't speak ill of them."

A more practical consideration is helping the North Koreans manage the succession.

"China has decided that North Korea is too big to fail," said John Park of Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Park said he expects Beijing to step in with more generous offers of energy assistance, food aid and fertilizer. At the same time, the various factions of the North Korean regime are likely to be more dependent on China.

"Before, Kim Jong Il controlled all the commercial and trade relations with China. Now there will be a more collective leadership. The Chinese will play an increasingly important role," Park said.

Another scholar, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that since autumn, China's Jilin province had been supplying electricity to Rason, in North Korea's northeastern tip, where Chinese businesses are building factories and leasing ports on the Sea of Japan.

"North Korea's economy is relying more and more on China at this very unstable time," the scholar said.

In an often-quoted saying attributed to Mao Tse-tung, the relationship between China and North Korea once was as "close as lips and teeth." It became strained with China's recognition of South Korea in 1992, which North Korea considered an act of treachery.

Since Kim Jong Il fell ill in 2008, China and North Korea have drawn closer once again. In the year and a half before his death, Kim made three trips to China, it is believed, smoothing the way for the transition of power to his son.

China is increasingly exploiting North Korea's natural resources, particularly coal and iron ore. North Korea's exports to China in the first half of 2011 topped the $1-billion mark, triple the 2010 total. The port at Rason, in addition, gives China access to the Sea of Japan for the first time since 1860, when a key stretch of coastline was lost to Russia.

Relations between China and North Korea do not go through normal diplomatic channels, but are handled directly through their respective ruling parties, the Communist Party in China and the Workers' Party in North Korea. The parties appear to have carefully coordinated coverage of the death announcement.

Unlike Washington and Seoul, which reportedly learned of Kim's death when it was announced on state television, Beijing is said to have gotten the word three hours earlier, a Chinese source said.

barbara.demick@latimes.com

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/nationworld/world/~3/rXN7g1HIJSQ/la-fg-china-north-korea-20111224,0,5086611.story

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Several US states weigh in on cigarette label suit

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) ? Several states and U.S. territories are weighing in on a lawsuit over proposed graphic cigarette warning labels that include a sewn-up corpse of a smoker and a picture of diseased lungs, saying the federal government should be allowed to require the labels for the "lethal and addictive" products.

The 24 attorneys general filed a friend of the court brief on Friday in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington in support of the Food and Drug Administration's challenge of a lower court ruling in the case.

Last month, a U.S. District Court judge granted a request by some of the nation's largest tobacco companies, including R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Lorillard Tobacco Co., to block the labels while deciding whether the labels violate their free speech rights. The judge ruled it is likely the cigarette makers would succeed in a lawsuit to block the requirement that the labels be placed on cigarette packs next year.

Representatives for R.J. Reynolds declined to comment. Officials with Lorillard did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Saturday.

The tobacco companies have questioned the constitutionality of the labels, saying the warnings don't simply convey facts to inform people's decision whether to smoke but instead force the cigarette makers to display government anti-smoking advocacy more prominently than their own branding. They also say that changing cigarette packaging will cost millions of dollars.

Meanwhile, the FDA has said that the public interest in conveying the dangers of smoking outweighs the companies' free speech rights.

In the filing Friday, the attorneys general said that the First Amendment does not prevent the government from requiring that "lethal and addictive products carry warning labels that effectively inform consumers of the risks those products entail."

"Over forty years' experience with small, obscurely placed text-only warning labels on cigarette packs has demonstrated that they simply do not work," they wrote. "The warning labels reflect the unique magnitude of the problem they address, the deadly and addictive nature of the product, and the unparalleled threat this product and its marketing pose to America's youth."

The brief was filed by attorneys general from Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, the Virgin Islands, Washington and West Virginia.

In June, the FDA approved nine new warning labels that companies are to print on the entire top half of cigarette packs, front and back. The new warnings, each of which includes a number for a stop-smoking hotline, must constitute 20 percent of cigarette advertising, and marketers are to rotate use of the images.

One label depicts a corpse with its chest sewn up and the words "Smoking can kill you." Another shows a healthy pair of lungs beside a yellow and black pair with a warning that smoking causes fatal lung disease.

Joining North Carolina-based R.J. Reynolds and Lorillard in the lawsuit are Commonwealth Brands Inc., Liggett Group LLC and Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company Inc.

Richmond-based Altria Group Inc., parent company of the nation's largest cigarette maker, Philip Morris USA, which makes top-selling Marlboros, is not a part of the lawsuit.

The free speech lawsuit is separate from a lawsuit by several of the same companies over the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. That law, which took effect two years ago, cleared the way for the more graphic warning labels. But it also allowed the FDA to limit nicotine and banned tobacco companies from sponsoring athletic or social events or giving away free samples or branded merchandise.

A federal judge upheld many parts of the law, but the case is now pending before the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.

While the tobacco industry's latest legal challenge may not hold up, it could delay the new warning labels for years. And that is likely to save cigarette makers millions of dollars in lost sales and increased packaging costs.

Tobacco companies are increasingly relying on their packaging to build brand loyalty and grab consumers. It's one of few advertising levers left to them after the government curbed their presence in magazines, billboards and TV.

___

Michael Felberbaum can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/MLFelberbaum .

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-12-24-Smoking-Graphic%20Images/id-c563b031b99a4b97a43f1910089b980a

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Scary Moments at Eureka College

Scary Moments at Eureka College

? A bit of a scare for staff at Eureka College Thursday afternoon as the college was put on lockdown for a time when someone reported a person with a gun on campus. Eureka Police say area police agencies surrounded the campus on that report, but as it turns out, it would simply a juvenile with a toy gun, who was walking through campus to a friend's house. There were no students on campus as they had left last week for the holiday period.

Source: http://centralillinoisproud.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=218547

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Watch Out Yammer And Jive, Google Is About To Enter The Social Enterprise Space

The social enterprise has been growing as more and more companies look to incorporate Facebook-like communications among workers. Jive (which just debuted on the Nasdaq), Yammer, and Salesforce are all betting on the social as an integral part of productivity and business processes in the future. And it looks like Google will be entering the space soon. Google's Vice President of Enterprise Amit Singh tells us that Google will soon bring a more in-depth Google+ social experience to businesses and institutions using Google Apps. In October, Google announced that Google Apps users could sign up for Google+, allowing businesses and educational institutions to share posts directly to other users within their workgroups and/or universities.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/01sv1-OE0Ac/

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Church takes donations for fire victims

First Christian Church has announced that an account to the Steve and Rachel Zabel family, who lost their home in a fire today, has been set up at the church. Donations can be made at the church office or deposited to an account in their name at Washington State Bank. Checks can be made out to the First Christian Church. All items will need to be replaced.

Source: http://washington-ia.villagesoup.com/news/story/church-takes-donations-for-fire-victims/194644?source=rss

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Romney vows to visit Israel first if elected to White House (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will draw a contrast with President Barack Obama on Middle East policy on Wednesday and promise to bolster U.S. ties with Israel if elected next year.

In remarks to Jewish Republicans, Romney will promise to make a visit to Israel his first foreign trip if he becomes the Republican presidential nominee and goes on to oust Obama from the White House in next November's election.

Republicans have complained that the Democrat Obama has favored the Palestinians over traditional U.S. ally Israel in the long-running Middle East dispute.

Obama angered the Israelis last May when he embraced a goal long sought by the Palestinians: that the state they seek in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip should largely be drawn along lines that existed before the 1967 war in which Israel captured those territories and East Jerusalem.

Romney, in a speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition, will say Obama has proposed that Israel adopt "indefensible borders" and had been "timid and weak in the face of the existential threat of a nuclear war."

"These actions have emboldened Palestinian hard-liners who now are poised to form a unity government with terrorist Hamas and feel they can bypass Israel at the bargaining table. President Obama has immeasurably set back the prospect of peace in the Middle East," Romney will say, according to speech excerpts released by his campaign.

The Republican Jewish conference is to hear from all the major Republican candidates seeking the 2012 nomination, including surging Romney rival Newt Gingrich.

A theme throughout the speeches is certain to be the need to strengthen the U.S. commitment to Israel and ensure it remains a democratic bulwark in an unstable region threatened by the possibility of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon.

"I will travel to Israel on my first foreign trip. I will reaffirm as a vital national interest Israel's existence as a Jewish state. I want the world to know that the bonds between Israel and the United States are unshakable," Romney will say.

Romney will also have strong words for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, saying he should be indicted for the crime of incitement to genocide under Article III of the Genocide Convention.

"The ayatollahs will not be permitted to obtain nuclear weapons on my watch. A nuclear-armed Iran is not only an Israel problem, it is problem for the United States and all the decent countries of the world," Romney will say.

(Editing by Jackie Frank)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111207/pl_nm/us_usa_campaign_romney_israel

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Newt Gingrich surges in Iowa. Will it last?

Newt Gingrich leads the Republican pack of presidential hopefuls in the key state of Iowa, according to a new poll out Sunday, and he seems likely to pick up Herman Cain's endorsement.

At this point in the race for a Republican presidential nominee ? just one month out from the Iowa caucuses ? it seems to be Newt Gingrich?s to lose.

Skip to next paragraph

He?s got the wind at his back in most polls ? especially the closely-watched Des Moines Register?s Iowa poll out Sunday. Just as important (perhaps more so), he?s way ahead of the pack when likely primary election voters? second choice is taken into account.

Unlike Herman Cain, who dropped out Saturday, Gingrich?s personal failings involving women other than his wife occurred a decade or more ago. Significantly, many evangelical leaders (if not their followers) have accepted his prayerful contrition.

To most Republicans, it doesn?t matter that he may have flip-flopped on such issues as climate change and an individual mandate on health care; he?s on the right side now. And if his position on illegal immigrants is more nuanced than his thrown-?em-all-out presidential rivals, that?s a reminder of the compassionate conservatism the Republican Party once espoused.

Democrats, of course, see Gingrich differently, and many dream of a race in which President Obama?s impressive re-election forces and the media really dig into the former House Speaker?s past ? looking deeply and critically at the sometimes squirrely ideas he?s put forth (replacing school janitors with kids pushing brooms), his money-making ventures that have made him the quintessential wealthy Washington insider (including lobbying for the health care industry and housing mortgage giant Freddie Mac), a personality that comes across as aloof and arrogant.

As Jennifer Jacobs, the Des Moines Register?s chief political writer, observed in reporting the latest poll results Sunday, ?Gingrich?s rivals are already starting to put him through the woodchipper.?

That includes some fellow Republicans who served with him in the House. Rep. Peter King (R) of Long Island (who has not endorsed anybody) recently referred to Gingrich as ?condescending ? undisciplined ? pedantic? and with an ?incredible sense of exaggeration.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/_fy1yoaqVTU/Newt-Gingrich-surges-in-Iowa.-Will-it-last

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NewsOneOfficial: Sexual Abuse In The Black Community: Yes, It?s Happening http://t.co/RA1QBzoz

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ECB's Stark: Crisis cure needed to avoid disaster (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? An urgent solution to the euro zone debt crisis needs to be found otherwise there will be widespread macroeconomic and financial disaster, Juergen Stark, one of the European Central Bank's top policymakers, warned on Friday.

That solution however, is in the hands of political leaders and not of the ECB, he said, urging the euro zone to move ahead with "some sort" of fiscal union.

If some countries resist that, maybe "we are at the stage now where politicians have to agree on a two-speed integration" of the euro zone," Stark, one of the ECB's six-member Executive Board, told investors after a presentation at the Forecaster Club of New York.

The euro zone faces a crucial time next week, when the bloc's leaders hold a crunch crisis summit and the ECB has its final monetary policy meeting of the year under growing pressure to show it is prepared to do whatever it takes to save the euro.

"The lingering and expanding sovereign debt crisis must be halted to avoid macroeconomic and financial disaster, in the euro area and beyond," Stark said in his speech. "A solution needs to be found urgently. No country is immune any more to a loss of market confidence in its public finances."

He pointed the finger at the United States, saying it was now "essential for the U.S. to formulate a credible fiscal consolidation program that returns its government debt to a declining path towards sustainable levels."

With the debt crisis taking an increasing toll on the euro zone's economy, the ECB is expected to cut interest rates for the second month running next week by at least 25 basis points -- a move that would shunt them back down to the record low 1.0 percent they started the year at.

On top of that, it is also expected to introduce a new wave of support measures to help the bloc's battered banks, including extending the loans it gives them to up to three years and loosening its rules to make it easier to access its funding.

Stark, who will quit the ECB at the end of the year, stuck to his view that the ECB should not be given the task of solving the crisis, code for no all-out bond buying.

"Monetary policy should not be overburdened. Monetary policy in the euro area was and will remain an anchor of confidence and stability. It will remain dedicated to its mandate of maintaining price stability."

Responding to market pressure for the ECB should take a bigger role in the solution of the crisis, he said the bank does not have to follow other central banks' strategy to protect markets against fallout of the crisis.

"What other central banks have done does not set precedents for the ECB. What other central banks have done is not the benchmark for us," he said. "We have our instruments."

Previously the ECB did not go under 1.0 percent with its main interest rate, but this time around economists believe it could be forced much closer to the zero mark.

Stark, who heads the bank's influential economics department which draws up pre-meeting recommendations on interest rate moves, warned that ultra-low interest rates carried dangers.

"Maintaining very low interest rates for a protracted period may weaken the financial incentive for deleveraging for both the banking and non-financial sectors."

"Very low interest rates may also discourage banks from trading in interbank money markets. This is an important market for the transmission of monetary policy," Stark said.

(For speech please click on: http://www.ecb.int/press/key/date/2011/html/sp111202.en.html)

(Reporting by Tim Ahmann and Walter Brandimarte; Writing by Marc Jones in Berlin; Editing by James Dalgleish)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111202/bs_nm/us_ecb_stark

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Gingrich's unpredictability raises concerns (The Arizona Republic)

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Does an x86 Ice Cream Sandwich Port Spell Future Intel Tablets? [Android]

Google made good on its IDF keynote promise and announced that is has ported Android 4.0 to Intel's x86 architecture. What does that mean? Could be that Intel tablets are on the horizon, but they still face issues with their chips' power consumption. More speculation is available at Ubergizmo. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/26wNkcdJPs8/does-an-x86-ice-cream-sandwich-port-spell-future-intel-tablets

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Some hot ticket toys already cleaned out online

Developers for LeapFrog explain the lessons they learn when kids get a hold of the company's latest games and devices.

By Marisa Taylor

It happens every year. The special toy that every child wants for Christmas flies off store shelves and parents are left scrambling to find little Susie or Johnny that must-have item, sometimes resorting to eBay (or, more recently, pepper spray).

This year looks to be no different, if Black Friday numbers are any indication. Retail foot-traffic increased by 6.6 percent on the day after Thanksgiving according to the shopping data analysis firm ShopperTrak, a slight edge over the 5.1 percent increase in shopping traffic on Black Friday in 2010.

So what?s a parent to do when the must-have toy is out of stock online? Needham and Company senior analyst Sean McGowan advises parents to keep checking in with local stores about when a new shipment of the item will be arriving, and then show up that morning to buy.

He also suggests networking with other parents and making pacts to buy enough of the item for the entire group if one parent finds it online or in a store.

The Catch-22 with holiday toys, he said, is that ?in order for [the toy] to be really big, there has to be enough in stock for it to sell. But if it?s available in mass quantities, there?s a perception that it?s not hot.?

So what will be this year?s the hot ticket toy? All signs indicate that the LeapFrog LeapPad Explorer, a tablet for kids with a built-in camera and video recorder, will be high on the list,?McGowan said. Even at this early stage, ?it?s the one thing you can?t find anywhere,? he said. ?For $100, you wouldn?t think it would be sold out, but it is.?

Indeed, at the time this story was being written, the LeapPad Explorer appeared to be out of stock on the websites of Toys ?R Us, Wal-Mart and Barnes and Noble.

The LeapPad Explorer also appeared to be unavailable for Internet purchase on Target and Kmart?s websites, though an in-store search for availability in the New York City area yielded a few store locations that had it in limited stock. Most, however, were sold out.

On Amazon.com, a number of sellers had evidently stocked up on the LeapPad Explorer only to hawk it for more than double the original retail value.

Another in-demand toy is the Lalaloopsy Silly Hair Doll by MGA Entertainment. An earlier model of the little pink doll was on the market last year, but it has been upgraded for 2011 with bendable pink curls that appear to be all the rage. For she, in all her wild-haired glory, is also out of stock online on Toys ?R Us, Wal-Mart, Kmart and Target, and is marked up to $67 from around $30 on Amazon.com.?

Toys ?R Us said that the Thanksgiving weekend also yielded big sales of the Trash Pack ?Trashies? Garbage Truck by Moose Toys and the Animal Planet Air Swimmers eXtreme Radio Control Giant Flying Sharkand Clownfish, the latter of which does require the additional purchase of a helium tank. But both are still available online for purchase, as are hot sellers like Monster High dolls and Skylanders Spyro?s Adventure video games.

Company spokesperson Jen Albano said Toys ?R Us will continue to receive daily deliveries of its top selling items throughout the season up until Christmas Eve.

At Kmart, in addition to the LeapPad Explorer and the V-tech Innotab Tablet, the Fijit Friends Interactive Toysare slated to be extremely popular this season, according to spokesperson Sarah Fitzgerald. (Indeed, all three items are currently sold out at Kmart.com.) Regarding the tablets, she says, ?If moms are thinking about them, I would start scouring and securing them now.? Same goes for the Fijit Friends. But what about Lalaloopsy, her crazy-haired compatriot? ?You?re not going to see her in December,? said Fitzgerald.

For boys, Fitzgerald said Hot Wheels Wall Tracks, which uses 3M Command Strips to adhere racing tracks up walls, are already a big seller at Kmart, with the starter setcurrently unavailable for online purchase.

Overall, Fitzgerald said that innovative toys that feature some sort of upgrade from a popular classic are always big holiday sellers, even in the case of a more expensive item like the LeapPad Explorer. ?It doesn?t matter what the price or the year is; innovation carries the day when it comes to toys,? she said.

Some parents have resorted to creative measures to find the most coveted toys of the season for their kids. Judy Greenfield, 36, a stay-at-home mother of three in Sanford, Fla., hits up Facebook to figure out where to buy hard-to-find toys. One of her friends was looking for Squinky toyslast year, for example, and Greenfield was able to advise her that she?d spotted them at CVS; Greenfield will post about what she's looking for so that her friends can return the favor.?

Last year, when Greenfield was searching for the ever-popular ZhuZhu?Pets hamsters for her kids, she struck gold by visiting smaller versions of chain stores like Target and Walmart after finding that the larger stores were out of stock. This year, though, there?s no one item on her 4-year-old daughter?s list that she feels the need to strategize for. ?I think?due to?the economy we are not going to see a cabbage patch/tickle me Elmo type of scenario,? she wrote in an email.

But Jenny Robertson, 39, a sales and account manager for a sign company and single mother based in Columbus, Ohio, was able to turn the holiday toy craze into a major money-making opportunity. Last Christmas, she had a hunch that the ZhuZhu Pets would be popular, and stocked up on 30 of them back in September. She ended up selling about 200 of them on eBay, along with around 75 Crayola Crayon Makers, for a tidy profit that paid for her family?s Christmas presents and a trip to Washington D.C. with her two children.

Her tricks of the trade? Befriend sales people at the big box stores, because they can tell you when the next shipment of toys is coming in. ?They?re not beyond putting something back for you or tucking it behind a more common Fisher-Price toy and giving you the wink and the nod that it?s there,? Robertson said. She also discovered that the customer service counter was a great place to find returned items that parents didn?t know was a must-have, before they're returned to shelves.?

This year, however, she?s not doing any reselling on eBay, particularly since her 10-year-old daughter had to go without a coveted Zhu Zhu pet last year when Robertson ran out of stock. ?My friends thought I was nuts,? she said. ?We still laugh about the hamster Christmas.?

Circa 1956: From train sets to fluffy, stuffed poodles, TODAY's Dave Garroway and Helen O'Connell take a look at some of the popular toys of the decade.

Taryn Mohrman, lifestyle editor for Parents magazine, highlights the best toys of the year for your child, just in time for holiday shopping.

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/30/9121394-some-hot-ticket-toys-already-cleaned-out-online

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