Twitter will now let you make as many as 1,000 lists (up from 20) with as many as 5,000 accounts (rather than 500). Go nuts!
Source: http://gizmodo.com/twitter-will-now-let-you-make-as-many-as-1-000-lists-u-510551230
cab calloway melissa gilbert deadliest catch dwts sean hannity bobby petrino fired buffett rule
With the Western Conference Finals wrapping up last night we need to know who will meet the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals. That answer could get a little more clear tonight as the Miami Heat are looking to take a commanding 3-1 lead in this series. The Indiana Pacers will do everything in their power tonight to make sure this goes back to Miami all even, though it will not be easy.
Miami is coming off their most complete game of the entire playoffs and will be looking for blood tonight. The real question is if Indiana has the ability to whether the storm and buckle down enough to get the win. All questions will be answered tonight on TNT at 8:30 EST.
OS REWIND:?2013 NBA Draft Lottery Results?
--Source: http://www.freeonsmash.com/news/2013/05/28/nba-eastern-conference-finals-game-4-preview-may-28-2013/
Griselda Blanco Michelle Obama Speech Michael Clarke Duncan Nazanin Boniadi Deval Patrick Dedication 4 labor day
By Leah Schnurr
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Home prices accelerated by the most in nearly seven years in March as the spring buying season gave the sector traction, while surging consumer confidence pointed to some resilience for the economic recovery.
The data on Tuesday also suggested the two segments could act as buffers as the broader economy faces the pinch of belt-tightening in Washington.
The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas climbed 10.9 percent year over year, beating expectations for 10.2 percent. This was the biggest increase since April 2006, just before prices peaked in the summer of that year.
Prices in the 20 cities gained 1.1 percent in March compared to the month before on a seasonally adjusted basis, topping economists' forecasts for a 1 percent rise.
The housing market turned a corner in 2012, several years after its far-reaching collapse. The recovery has picked up since as inventory has tightened, foreclosures eased and historically low mortgage rates have attracted buyers.
A Reuters poll showed the recovery in the housing market likely has momentum through the rest of the year, with economists ratcheting up their forecasts for price gains in 2013.
Separate data showed consumer confidence picked up in May to its highest in more than five years in the midst of a stock market rally and lower gasoline prices.
Housing and the consumer have shown strength even as there have been hints that tighter fiscal policy is starting to bite in the broader economy. Across-the-board U.S. government spending cuts of $85 billion went into effect in March, while the payroll tax holiday expired at the beginning of the year, raising taxes for many Americans.
The data suggested both areas were performing better than the overall economy, said Sam Bullard, senior economist at Wells Fargo in Charlotte, North Carolina.
"There are some individual circumstances that are helping to propel both of these a little bit stronger than what the actual underlying strength would suggest," said Bullard, pointing to the effect of higher stock prices on consumers, and investor demand for homes in beaten-down regions lifting prices.
Economists expect the pace of growth likely cooled in the second quarter, partly due to tighter fiscal policy, but the second half of the year is seen regaining traction. Investor attention has turned to when the Federal Reserve might start to slow its economic stimulus efforts.
The data lent support to equities where Wall Street rose after comments from central banks around the world reassured investors supportive monetary policies would remain in place. U.S. Treasuries yields rose to their highest levels in over a year.
Housing-related shares rose following the Case-Shiller report before giving up some gains in the afternoon, with the S&P homebuilders ETF up 0.4 percent. The ETF is up nearly 20 percent for the year, outpacing the more than 16 percent surge seen in the benchmark S&P 500 index.
Home prices in Phoenix continued their sharp ascent, rising 22.5 percent from a year earlier. Other standouts included San Francisco, up 22.2 percent, and hard-hit Las Vegas, up 20.6 percent.
Fitch Ratings on Tuesday said the recent home price gains seen in several markets are outpacing improvements in the underlying fundamentals and could stall or even reverse. Many of these areas are in California, Fitch said, citing Los Angeles as an example.
Los Angeles prices rose 16.6 percent from a year ago, the Case-Shiller report said.
For the first quarter of this year, the seasonally adjusted national index rose 3.9 percent, stronger than the 2.4 percent gain seen in the final quarter of last year.
"Low inventories and gradually improving housing demand have combined to push housing starts higher and support home price appreciation," said Michael Gapen, an economist at Barclays in New York.
"We see these factors as remaining in place and expect residential investment to add to GDP growth in the coming quarters. We also expect rising real estate wealth to support household balance sheets and underpin consumption, helping the broader economy to offset a substantial fiscal drag in 2013."
The Conference Board, an industry group, said its index of consumer attitudes jumped to 76.2 from an upwardly revised 69 in April, topping economists' expectations for 71. It was the best level since February 2008.
In a sign of confidence among high-end consumers, jeweler Tiffany & Co reported better-than-expected sales for the first quarter.
Consumer activity accounts for about two-thirds of the economy and while improved sentiment does not necessarily translate into more spending, the improvement was encouraging.
Still, even with the gain in confidence in May, second-quarter consumption growth is likely to have slowed to a 2.5 percent annualized pace from 3.2 percent in the first quarter, according to Capital Economics.
The expectations index rose to 82.4 from 74.3, while the present situation index climbed to 66.7 from 61.
Consumers' assessment of the labor market improved. The "jobs hard to get" index slipped to 36.1 percent from 36.9 percent the month before, while the "jobs plentiful" index gained to 10.8 percent from 9.7 percent.
(Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/home-prices-accelerate-most-seven-years-004137517.html
dark shadows iau msft etan patz obama dog doug hutchison larry brown
Apr. 22, 2013 ? Predicting the winner of a sporting event with accuracy close to that of a statistical computer programme could be possible with proper training, according to researchers.
In a study published today, experiment participants who had been trained on statistically idealised data vastly improved their ability to predict the outcome of a baseball game.
In normal situations, the brain selects a limited number of memories to use as evidence to guide decisions. As real-world events do not always have the most likely outcome, retrieved memories can provide misleading information at the time of a decision.
Now, researchers at UCL and the University of Montreal have found a way to train the brain to accurately predict the outcome of an event, for example a baseball game, by giving subjects idealised scenarios that always conform to statistical probability.
Dr Bradley Love (UCL Department of Cognition, Perception and Brain Sciences), lead author of study, said: "Providing people with idealized situations, as opposed to actual outcomes, 'cleans' their memory and provides a stock of good quality evidence for the brain to use."
In the study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers programmed computers to use all available statistics to form a decision -- making them more likely to predict the correct outcome. By using all data from previous sports leagues, the computer's predictions always reflected the most likely outcome.
Next, researchers 'trained' the brains of participants by giving them a scenario which they had to predict the outcome of. Two groups of subjects, those given actual outcomes to situations and those given ideal outcomes were trained and then tested to compare their progress.
The scenarios consisted of games between two Major League baseball teams. Participants had to predict which team would win and were told if their prediction was correct. Those in the 'actual' group we told the true outcome of the game and those in the 'ideal' group were given fictional results.
Prior to participants' predictions, the teams had been ranked in order based on their number of wins. For the ideal group, researchers changed the results of the match so the highest ranking team won regardless of the true outcome. This created ideal outcomes for the subjects as the best team always won, which of course does not happen in reality.
Participants in the experiment were tested by being asked to predict the outcomes for the rest of the matches played in the league, but they were not given feedback on their performance. Even though the 'ideal' group had been given incorrect data during training, they were significantly better at predicting the winner.
Dr Love explained: "Unlike machine systems, people's decisions are messy because they rely on whatever memories are retrieved by chance. One consequence is that people perform better when the training situation is idealised -- a useful fiction that fits are cognitive limitations."
Participants' prediction abilities were compared to computer models that were either optimised for prediction or modelled on human brains. After ideal outcome training, the study showed that 'ideal' subjects had greatly enhanced their skills and were comparable with the optimised model when predicting baseball game outcomes.
Authors suggest that idealised real world situations could be used to train professionals who rely on the ability to analyse and classify information. Doctors making diagnoses from x-rays, financial analysts and even those wanting to predict the weather could all benefit from the research.
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University College London, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/living_well/~3/zH-MY7K8-vk/130422154923.htm
2012 nfl draft order mohamed sanu chris polk chicago bulls st louis blues rueben randle mike trout
Bill Bratton, the former police commissioner of Boston and New York City as well as former chief of police in Los Angeles, discusses the Boston Marathon bombings, saying the FBI "will be going in many directions" as they continue to investigate.
By Ian Johnston, Staff Writer, NBC News
LONDON -- Former Boston Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said Tuesday that those responsible for the bombing of the city?s marathon?should be put to death.
Bratton said he had ?every confidence? that the authorities would ?get to the bottom of this and bring those responsible to justice.?
Massachusetts abolished capital punishment in 1984, but Bratton said the federal authorities could take over the prosecution of terrorist acts like this and a federal court could pass the death sentence.
?I think this act would be an appropriate use of the death penalty as a penalty for the crime,? he said.
Bratton, who was born and raised in the city and policed its marathon for many years, said he was having dinner in the British capital when he started getting emails about the bomb blasts.
He spent the next few hours trying to find out what happened and whether people close to him had been hurt or killed.
?I?ve friends and relatives that would be at that event, some running in it, some observing,? Bratton said, adding that former police colleagues would also have been there providing security.
'No shortage of haters'
Bratton, who was also previously chief of the Los Angeles Police Department and New York's police commissioner, said there were a number of potential suspects, including al Qaeda.
?You line up the usual suspects and they?d certainly be at the front of the line, but unfortunately there?s no shortage of haters, people who don?t like the government ? neo-Nazi types ? any number of people are capable of wanting to participate and pull of this type of event,? he said.
But Bratton cautioned against anyone jumping to conclusions or indulging in ?idle speculation? about who had carried out the attack and said people should allow law enforcement officers to deal with the investigation.
He said the authorities had been successful in preventing many terrorist attacks in the U.S., including "at least a dozen" in New York City, where he now lives.
Charles Krupa / AP
See images from the scene of the explosions.
Bratton said this was partly down to good intelligence and "citizen observation." "If something looks suspicious, if you see something, report it," he said.
He admitted it was not possible to prevent every attack, but urged people to carry on with normal life despite the terrorist threat.
?You don?t let them create such a fear that you change the way you live,? he said. ?We will move on. We will remember, we?ll commemorate, we?ll mourn, but life goes on."
However, speaking earlier on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Bratton said the bombing would have a lasting effect.?
?I grew up in Boston. It [Patriots? Day and the marathon] is an extraordinary day and one that I have great memories of," he said. "And those memories will be forever tainted.?
Related:
Full coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings from NBC News
Boston on high alert after marathon bombing kills 3, injures scores
Boston Marathon victims include two brothers who each lost a leg
correspondents dinner i am legend san antonio spurs greta van susteren tony parker the five year engagement chris kreider
(Hope ? Super Bowl TV star ? at home in Warm Springs Ranch in March 2013)
BOONVILLE, Mo. ? Spring means the return of baseball and, in just a few days, opening day celebrations around the United States. It also marks another annual event celebrated by fans of the Budweiser Clydesdales ? ?opening day? at Warm Springs Ranch in mid-Missouri for public tours, where more than 35 baby Clydesdales are expected to be born in 2013.
Jeff Knapper, general manager for Clydesdale operations for Anheuser-Busch, said that through March 27, seventeen baby Clydesdales have been born at Anheuser-Busch?s state-of-the-art Clydesdale breeding farm, which is home to more than 100 Budweiser Clydesdales. This includes Hope, the star of Budweiser?s award-winning and top-ranked Super Bowl commercial, and Stan, the first-born foal of 2013, named after all-time MLB great Stan Musial.
Public tours begin Monday, April 1, and the ranch remains open until Oct. 31.
?Some tour dates, particularly Saturdays in the spring, already are sold out,? Knapper said. ?On some other days there is limited availability. The popularity of the Super Bowl spot has certainly piqued the public?s curiosity around the training of Budweiser Clydesdales and how they spend their early years.?
The ranch offers twice-daily tours every day except for Wednesday. The tour costs $10 per person and lasts one-and-a-half hours. To reserve a tour spot (reservations are required) or for more information, visit www.warmspringsranch.com.
New for 2013, the ranch now offers a VIP tour. On the tour, guests climb aboard a custom-built vehicle to enjoy a private excursion on the 300-plus acres and talk with Clydesdale handlers. The VIP tour also includes time in the pastures with the Clydesdales, as well as samples of Budweiser for adult guests older than 21 at the end of the tour and a photo opportunity with one of the world famous Budweiser Clydesdales. Each VIP tour costs $500 and can accommodate up to 16 guests, with the tour offered once daily.
In a little more than a week, on April 7, the Clydesdales will celebrate a major milestone ? the 80th anniversary of their association with Anheuser-Busch. The Budweiser Clydesdales have been an integral part of Anheuser-Busch?s heritage since April 7, 1933, and their strength and majesty symbolize Budweiser quality and team spirit. They were formally introduced to celebrate the repeal of Prohibition for beer.
John Soto, supervisor of Warm Springs Ranch (pictured with Hope), has been providing care for the Clydesdales for 33 years. In fact, he was the inspiration for the handler featured in the ?Brotherhood? Super Bowl commercial that won USA Today?s AdMeter.
?Since the Super Bowl, many people have asked me what it feels like to have been portrayed by an actor on such a large stage,? Soto said. ?I tell them I?m humbled and lucky, but that?s really how I feel every day, getting to share my life with and care for these beautiful animals, each of which has their own personality.?
In 2012 Warm Springs Ranch welcomed 16,252 visitors from around the world, up more than 36 percent from the year before, and also welcomed 28 baby Clydesdales: 18 fillies (girls) and 10 colts (boys). For opening week this year, visitors from more than 10 states, spanning from California to Florida, have already reserved spots on the tours.
Source: http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2013/03/28/budweiser-clydesdale-farm-opens-next-week/
north korea miami heat good friday maundy thursday keith urban Dorothy Hamill Red Equal Sign
Zachary Thompson, the county's director of health and human services, says the program does more than pay bills. (Mia Castillo/Staff)
Staff writer Mia Castillo reports:
North Texans who can?t pay their electricity bills will continue to get the help they need thanks to a $5 million contribution to the TXU Energy Aid program.
?In the last 10 years there has been nearly $19 million of bill payment assistance that has helped 94,000 Dallas County residents,? said Kim Campbell, senior manager for customer advocacy for TXU. ?The program truly is a lifeline for our customers that are in need.?
TXU Energy announced the donation during a press conference Thursday morning celebrating the 30th anniversary of the nationally recognized program, billed as the biggest of it kind in the nation. The company matches each dollar in donations by employees, customers and others with a $5 donation of its own.
The program has helped more than 435,000 Texans pay more than $78 million in electricity bills, according to the company.
Representatives from about 20 social service agencies that help distribute the funds were present at the conference, including Zachary Thompson, Dallas County?s director of health and human services.
Thompson said the program goes beyond paying bills for needy customers.
?It brings them into social service centers like Dallas County Health and Human Services and other agencies and gives us the opportunity to provide them additional assistance,? he said.
Those needing help with their bills can call 211 to see if they qualify, and anyone seeking to donate can find information here.
new jersey nets nba playoff schedule rondo morris claiborne mothers day gifts clippers lisa lampanelli
