Pew: Twitter Is A Mainstream Liberal, But A Conservative Wonk

Twitter's liberal bias is no shocker to anyone who saw "Binders Full Of Women" at a Halloween party last year. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's slip-of-the-tongue during a presidential debate instantly became a Twitter sensation, fueling discussion of conservative gender bias for weeks after the event. Now, delicious new survey data from Pew reveals just how liberal the Twitter universe is. And, perhaps more interestingly, when it's also more conservative than national opinion polls.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/qC5stF2orwE/

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How Halfbrick Studios Develops Games Like Fruit Ninja, Age Of Zombies And Jetpack Joyride

?This is the original concept shot for Fruit Ninja which was pitched to the company during Halfbrick Fridays. This is literally the very first piece of Fruit Ninja imagery ever created, so it?s historically significant,” Halfbrick Studio‘s Chief Marketing Officer Phil Larsen said in an email to me last week after I interviewed him and his colleague Richard McKinney, the company’s Chief Technology Officer, about how the company develops its games. Halfbrick Fridays is one of the ways the Brisbane, Australia-based company comes up with new ideas for its games. Fruit Ninja – its greatest hit to date – came out of this. Halfbrick Fridays About five to seven times a year, the company organizes these Halfbrick Fridays, they told me, where the whole company (about 70 people at this point), breaks into groups of around five people to brainstorm new ideas. The cool thing here is that it’s not just the game designers and developers who participate, but anybody who works for the company – be that in accounting or quality assurance – participates in these sessions. Age of Zombies, for example, is the result of this process (though Larsen and McKinney told me the final version looked very different from the prototype). So is Monster Dash. These events either last for about a week or are spread out to one day during a period of about five to seven weeks. Once the idea for Fruit Ninja was born, it only took a few months to make, but some game ideas, the team told me, have been floating around for years and have yet to become reality. From Idea To Game What’s interesting about how Halfbrick turns its game ideas into actual products is that virtually all of its games use one underlying engine (written almost exclusively in C++). The core engine team consists of six “hardcore programmers,” as McKinney told me, and they ensure that those teams that work on the individual games have a stable architecture that they can then write their own code for. One of Halfbrick’s larger teams, by the way, is now the cloud service team that provides the back-end technology to connect games together across platforms. Halfbrick uses Amazon’s EC2 platform for this and recently switched to a NoSQL database for better scalability. The point of the core engine, the team stressed, is to be able to publish apps across platforms as easily

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/1z_SijEYAsc/

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The price of diversity in Morocco | Morocco World News

By Mly Abdellah Taibi

Morocco World News

New York, March 2, 2013

Morocco is one of the countries that are known for its cultural and linguistic diversity. In a country where tourism is a fundamental pillar of economy, this diversity is a credit added to the attractions to Morocco. However, this linguistic diversity has heavily affected one of the most important variables of socio-economic development: educations. In the recent classification of educational systems around the world, Morocco ranked at the bottom of Arab countries and was knocked out even by countries with the poorest economic and social conditions.

Morocco has been making many amendments on the educational system but still all the efforts are considered fruitless. Since independence, Morocco has struggled to improve the educational system, starting by importing teachers from France and other countries waiting to train Moroccan teachers. By 1989 Morocco made a leap towards Arabization of primary and secondary grades. This shift is still considered, especially by those who witnessed the French system, as the beginning of the dramatic retreat of educational standards.

However, French is still considered a basic components of the educational system in Morocco since all scientific disciplines use this language as a teaching/learning vehicle. Between 1999/2009 the government introduced an important reform that had focused on education as a basic element of development. For any observer inside the field of education, it?s obviously seen that there is a tremendous effort to improve this field by increasing numbers of staff and teachers, introducing technology to schools, facilitating conditions in rural areas, trying any newest teaching methods..etc. Surprisingly, all these efforts led to insignificant outcomes.

As the government pants to find a remedy for this issue, many facts and details are ignored. Moroccan?s linguistic complexity is the key element to understand this perpetual failure of education policies. Considering that more than 50 percent of Moroccans speak Amazigh language as their mother tongue and the rest speak Darija, an Arabic dialect, while education utilizes classical Arabic as a language for teaching and learning. This incompatibility surely leads to a shortage in performance of students. It?s clearly unfair to compare the performance of an Amazigh child in Morocco with an Arab child in the Middle East basing on tests introduced in Arabic language. The Amazigh child has to make double efforts: decipher the language first, and then understand the content, whereas the Arab is only required to understand the content.

This same issue has been raised in the USA some years ago after the disproportionate representation of Hispanic and Afro-American children in special education. It?s found that the majority of children who are considered mentally disabled and condemned to special education are Latinos and African Americans. The unfairness lies in the fact that for classification, IQ tests ?intelligence quotient tests? are given to students in English while Latinos mother tongue is Spanish. Concerning African Americans, the problem doesn?t lie in language but the absence of any consideration of their socio-economic status. Both socio-economically and linguistically speaking, the Euro-American children are clearly favored. To make these IQ tests credible, the USA started to consider mother tongue as crucial element of determining a child?s cognitive competencies.

Hispanic student are lucky to be saved from a disability judgment. Though it does not require experts to spot this obstacle, Amazigh children in Morocco still suffer from inequity. Personally, I had a traumatizing experience related to this. When I was in the 2^nd grade, my teacher was classifying me as the top of my class in a school where all students were Amazighophone. In the middle of the year, a neighbor school sent a group of Arabophone students to study with us as they have a problem in their school. I remember, the teacher did not care about me any more, since he had some students with whom he could communicate easily in Arabic. We, all other Amazigh kids in that class, felt ourselves out of the game. We were just watching conversations in a foreign language and we were technically considered disabled.

Anybody can admit that solving this issue is not an easy task at all, though it?s theoretically feasible. Banning Amazigh language from our culture was one of the suggestions. This is an impossible theory even though there were many unsuccessful tries along history to uproot, intentionally or unintentionally, this language and culture. After the Islamic conquest around the 7^th century, the Arabic language became the prestigious language in Morocco. While the Amazigh language was restricted and was gradually losing its richness due to a heavy borrowing from Arabic. At a certain point, this language became next to primitive because it was mainly preserved by people of mountains, especially, who didn?t have a huge contact with the Arab culture.

In Modern Morocco and up to what is known as ?the speech of Agadir? in 2001, using Amazigh was not allowed. In 2001, king Mohamed VI recognized Amazigh language as a component of the Moroccan Identity. This recognition was supported by the establishment of IRCAM, The Royal Institute of the Amazigh Culture to foster and promote the presence of this language.

The other suggestion is teaching in Amazigh areas should use Amazigh language as a vehicle of knowledge. This might seem difficult but not impossible for many reasons: It requires time, financial resources and a serious policy. However, many people will not agree with this idea because it will split Morocco in two.

As I said, it?s difficult to realize this objective because the Amazigh is a recently standardized language. This resurrected tongue needs more time and efforts to reach the same position as its peers, and this can be achieved by adapting a realistic strategy for its promotion.

After passing through all the obstacles from primary to secondary school, Amazighophone students are joined by their Arabophone peers for new stage of struggling at the post-secondary education. Given that French is the language in which many scientific disciplines are being taught, students are required to convert all the thirteen years of studies in Arabic to French.

At the university level, students, mainly in scientific disciplines, need to adapt to the new requirements by mastering French in addition to the content to graduate. Through all this process, one can observe that we spend much of our school lives shifting from one language to another while other developed countries use their mother tongue from cradle to grave.

In my psychology class here in an American university, I feel that my American colleagues have more advantages. We all study in English and we are required to pass the same exams and perform the same duties while English is their first language whereas it?s my fourth. I think that this is one of the reasons that may keep developed countries always leaders since underdeveloped countries are linguistically dependent and their efforts to have their own reliable learning resources is still limited.

The views expressed in this article are the author?s own and do not necessarily reflect Morocco World News? editorial policy

? Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed

Source: http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2013/03/80684/the-price-of-diversity-in-morocco/

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Read This if You Want to Understand Speed Reading | Freedom ...

Speed reading is a subject that is worth learning. No matter what sort of material you need to read, it can be very helpful to raise the amount of information you can consume. Today, communications is more essential than ever though it really is always been this way. Being able to access and understand more composed material means that you know more than most folks. With so many demands put on you, having such an ability may be the factor that makes you a leader in your area.

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If you need to just try this and observe how you feel about it before purchasing something, that?s achievable if you do research on Google. You can observe children learning how to read by following along with their index finger while they study, and you can use this in another approach. As you can imagine, what you need to do is build-up gradually by relocating your hand quicker. In period, you will automatically start to read faster, and the matter is that you control the pace. If you end up missing some times, then that?s fine just so long as you get back to it and keep using it.

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Along with understanding the speed reading techniques, you must focus on what you are studying because you need to learn for understanding as well. When you are doing casual reading, then this may almost never be a problem however it is for other items that are within the kind of learning something new. This is really a method that is employed by lecturers for a long time, so it is worthwhile considering. As you do that, you can make it easier to absorb the information on the specific matter, and that will improve your reading.

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It will need a certain amount of repetition and regular exercise before your speed studying abilities begin to become permanent. If you?re using a computer software program, use it everyday. Discover some time every day to apply your speed reading. Above all, if you buy a class or book, make sure you really open it and use it. People buy books, ebooks, courses, DVSs, and then they cannot utilize them. Procrastination can be your worst adversary if you want to master a skill for example speed reading. Just as you had to concentrate your brain to discover how to read in the first place, so you have to today train it to learn how to speed read. You actually have to show your mind to work in a different method as you read.

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If you need to improve your job and entire lifestyle, then learn more about speed studying and then get started. You really can set yourself apart in several methods if you go through with it and foster your studying. How you react to all of that?s around you, and I could just present you with the reality. It is all right and regular to have some doubts in the beginning, and for this reason sometimes you need to go on a little belief and conviction.

Source: http://freedomtophotograph.com/read-this-if-you-want-to-understand-speed-reading

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Horse meat may be back on US menu after 6 years

Stephanie Strom , The New York Times ? ? ? 2 hrs.

The United States Department of Agriculture is likely to approve a horse slaughtering plant in New Mexico in the next two months, which would allow equine meat suitable for human consumption to be produced in the United States for the first time since 2007.

The plant, in Roswell, N.M., is owned by Valley Meat Company, which sued the U.S.D.A. and its Food Safety and Inspection Service last fall over the lack of inspection services for horses going to slaughter. Horse meat cannot be processed for human consumption in the United States without inspection by the U.S.D.A., so horses destined for that purpose have been shipped to places like Mexico and Canada for slaughter.

Justin DeJong, a spokesman for the agriculture department, said that ?several? companies had asked the agency to re-establish inspection of horses for slaughter. ?These companies must still complete necessary technical requirements and the F.S.I.S. must complete its inspector training,? he wrote in an e-mail referring to the food inspection service.

He said the Obama administration was urging Congress to reinstate an effective ban on the production of horse meat for human consumption that lapsed in 2011.

The impending approval comes amid growing concern among American consumers that horse meat will somehow make its way into ground beef products in the United States as it has done in Europe. Major companies, including Tesco, Nestl? and Ikea, have had to pull food from shelves in 14 countries after tests showed that products labeled 100 percent beef actually contained small amounts of horse meat. Horse meat is not necessarily unsafe, and in some countries, it is popular. But some opponents of horse slaughtering say consumption of horse meat is ill-advised because of the use of various kinds of drugs in horses.

?We now have the very real prospect of a horse slaughtering plant operating in the U.S. for the first time in six years,? said Wayne Pacelle, chief executive of the Humane Society of the United States. The last plant that slaughtered horse meat for human consumption in the United States closed in 2007, after Congressional approval of an appropriations bill that included a rider forbidding the U.S.D.A. from financing the inspection of such meat. That rider was renewed in subsequent appropriations bills until 2011, when Congress quietly removed it from an omnibus spending act.

That opened the door for a renewal of the horse slaughter business, but only if the U.S.D.A. re-established inspections. The agency never moved to restart its equine inspection service.

Valley Meat sued Tom Vilsack, the agriculture secretary, and Al Almanza, the head of the food safety inspection service, charging that the department?s failure to offer inspection of horse meat violated the Federal Meat Inspection Act.

That law directs the agriculture department to appoint inspectors to examine ?all amenable species? before they enter a slaughtering facility.

?Amenable species? were animals subject to the act the day before it was enacted, including cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, horses and mules.

A. Blair Dunn, the lawyer for Valley Meat, said that the Justice Department recently asked the company for an additional 60 days to file a response to its lawsuit. Mr. Dunn said the Justice Department indicated it was asking for the extra time because ?the U.S.D.A. plans to issue a grant of inspection within that time, which would allow my clients to begin operations.? Mr. Dunn said that Valley Meat had hired experts in the humane treatment of horses for slaughter and was training employees. The company is not planning to sell meat in the United States, at least at the outset of its operations. ?Last spring, they were in discussions with several companies in European countries about exporting their products,? he said of his clients. ?I?m sure if markets do develop in this country for horse meat for human consumption, they will look at them.?

He cautioned that Valley Meat might still face challenges to opening, noting that several parties had filed briefs on both sides of the case. The Humane Society has petitioned the Agriculture Department and the Food and Drug Administration to delay approval of any facility for horse slaughter, raising questions about the presence of drugs like phenylbutazone, which is used to treat inflammation in horses.

Conversely, R-CALF USA, an organization representing about 5,000 family cattle ranching operations, has filed a brief supporting Valley Meat?s legal case. Bill Bullard, its chief executive, said his members needed horse slaughtering facilities to humanely dispose of the horses they used in their businesses once they became old or incapacitated.

?Beginning in 2006, when inspections were temporarily prohibited, these U.S. horses continue to be slaughtered in foreign countries like Mexico and Canada,? Mr. Bullard said. ?We believe the Mexicans do not adhere to the same humane standards as in the United States, and so some of our members won?t sell their horses.?

Mr. Pacelle said he had been surprised to see anyone from the beef industry supporting horse slaughter. ?For the cattle industry, it is a self-destructive move, since the more horse meat that?s circulating, the greater the chance it will infiltrate the food supply and decrease consumer confidence in beef,? he said.

This story first appeared in the New York Times on Feb. 28, 2013, under the headline "U.S.D.A. May Approve Horse Slaughter Plant."

Copyright ? 2013 The New York Times

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/horse-meat-may-be-back-us-menu-after-6-year-1C8638596

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FCC looking into ban on unlocking on-contract iPhones and other phones

The FCC is going to look into the ban on unlocking phones. The ban, which came into effect on January 26 of this year, made it illegal to unlock an on-contract device for use on another carrier. Citing concerns over innovations, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said that the commission would be looking into the matter. According to TechCrunch:

Genachowski isn?t sure what authority he has, but if he finds any, given the tone of the conversation, it?s likely he will exert his influence to reverse the decision. ?It?s something that we will look at at the FCC to see if we can and should enable consumers to use unlocked phones.?

The illegality of unlocking phones benefits carriers by keeping you locked into your contract. Of course, you can still pay an early termination fee, but now you have to get a new device when you move to a new carrier. This increases the hassle of the switching process, which carriers already make as hard as possible. Expect the carriers to fight back, because anything that makes it even a little easier for a customer to take their money elsewhere is a threat to their bottom line.

Are you glad that the FCC is investigating? Have you ever unlocked or considered unlocking your phone?

Source: TechCrunch

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/_u9NphDbGeY/story01.htm

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Watch Your Web Business Grow With Online Reputation Management

The??Internet is increasing daily which means that there is a growing need for online reputation management. Regardless of the kind of products your company sells online, without online reputation management there can be a negative impact on your business. Discussions about the easy steps you can take for more effective online reputation management are revealed in the following article.

Create and Run a Professional Blog:?
Online reputation management is how you can show your audience that your product/service is good enough while at the same time, protecting your brand from any negative information that may arise. Building a credible reputation on the Internet is one of the first things that need to be done. One of the easiest ways to do this is to create a professional blog where you can send out targeted knowledge to the audience which allows you to establish yourself as a reliable authority or source.

Your blog posts need to target your ideal customer/prospect and offer real value. It's important to offer content of high quality in your blog so that it will be spread farther around the web. Giving the impression of professional authority in your industry to others as well as maintaining your professional integrity is one of the benefits from this type of content. With time you'll notice you are getting more search engine traffic to your blog which allows a higher level of exposure to your product/service which in turn automatically associates your business with quality content.

Advantageous Use of Social Networking Platforms:

The popularity of social networking sites on the Internet such as Facebook and Twitter grows daily as more and more people log on just to share their happiness, vent their anger or simply express their opinions. Being active on social networking websites will allow you to connect to your customers on a whole new level. You will be one of the first to know what others are saying about your products or services. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are social sites where you should have company accounts so you can log in daily and find out how customers/prospects think and feel and bout your brand. Taking part in the discussions and quickly answering customer?s questions makes it easier to manage your online brand.

Hiring a PR Company:?
If you find you don't have the time to manage your online reputation or it?s becoming harder to do so, then consider hiring a PR company. Sometimes it?s just not possible to spend as much time as needed to be active in the social media platforms that is required for effective online reputation management. The ability to outsource your online reputation management and received regular reports is a good reason to hire a professional PR company. Last but not the least; make sure you're monitoring your online reputation consistently. It?s important to keep watch on what is being posted about your business on the web because it lets you take action immediately if needed.

For more information visit now @?http://www.hypervantage.com

About the Guest Author:
Stacy Quinn is the founder of Hypervantage Marketing Inc. The firm, established in 2008, specializes in assisting small business owners to attract more leads, clients and customers through digital media and website visitors.
Stacy is a speaker and published author. His book "Stacy Quinn's Guide To Marketing Your Business Online" is available on Amazon.com.
Stacy Quinn is a father and grandfather and he resides in Regina, Saskatchewan Canada.

Source: http://www.blogforguest.com/2013/03/watch-your-web-business-grow-with.html

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