Based on last quarter's global PC shipment numbers, Microsoft continues to feel pain in making the case for Windows is a viable tablet operating system. Theoretically, the dual-identity (Windows 8/RT) operating system has everything it needs to be a contender, but the promise is ahead of the reality on three interdependent fronts: chip-level hardware, legacy support, and app software.
For example, if x86 chips were more competitive with ARM processors from a performance-per-watt perspective, then Microsoft wouldn't be as reliant on Metro-style apps for functionality. And if more developers were creating Metro-style apps, then consumers wouldn't have to go to the legacy desktop mode as much to get things done. (Until the company releases a Metro-style Office, Microsoft really can't wag its finger too much at third parties.)
Apr. 28, 2013 ? Having high thyroid activity, and even "high-normal" levels, is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular and all-cause mortality, according to work which has received an award at the European Congress of Endocrinology in Copenhagen.
Subclinical hyperthyroidism is diagnosed when the levels of Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) are low, but the free hormones thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) are within normal range. You may have no symptoms at all, or symptoms such as the classical symptoms of an overactive thyroid -- weight loss, higher blood pressure, nervousness, etc. These symptoms may be mild. TSH is produced as a signal from the pituitary gland to produce more thyroid hormones, so low TSH implies that the body sees that your thyroid is tending to overactivity.
Now a group of Danish researchers led by Dr Christian Selmer studied the thyroid test results of more than half a million individuals who underwent thyroid testing in Copenhagen between 2000 and 2009. They found that those with subclinical hyperthyroidism were significantly more likely to die from cardiovascular disease. They also found that even patients having only slightly elevated thyroid activity, but still within the range which would be considered normal, showed a tendency to higher cardiovascular and other mortality.
The group looked at the results of 574,595 patients who had undergone testing. 95.9% of these patients showed normal thyroid function. However 6,264 patients exhibited subclinical hyperthyroidism, 706 of whom subsequently died of various causes. According to Christian Selmer:
"According to our work, 15% of deaths in the subclinical hyperthyroidism group could be attributed to the condition."
Even those at the high end of the normal range showed an increase in mortality. There were 13,434 patients in this range. 1,013 of these patients died of various causes, with 17% of the deaths associated with the thyroid condition. The authors emphasised that it is difficult to put exact numbers on the actual excess deaths caused by the condition for a variety of reasons. They state that they do not know if treatment of these conditions will in fact eliminate these excess deaths. This will be the goal of further studies.
Dr Christian Selmer, Research Fellow at Gentofte University Hospital, Denmark, and a winner of a Young Investigator Award at the European Congress of Endocrinology, said: "Let's keep this in context. Of the more than half million people who were tested, 50,612 subsequently died from all causes. According to our figures, this includes around 278 deaths which can be attributed to the subclinical thyroid or "high-normal" conditions we looked at, but it is important to remember that this is a calculated figure; we can't point to an individual and say he or she died because of the condition, and subclinical hyperthyroidism is one of many risk factors. Nevertheless, this needs to be taken seriously. I think that the take-home message is that if a person has a family history with any thyroid problem, or has any signs of thyroid problems, then they should go for a check-up. More than that, their family doctors need to be aware that any sign of thyroid abnormality can affect cardiovascular health, and they should act accordingly."
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 European Society of Endocrinology, via AlphaGalileo.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
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.
The Syrian prime minister escaped the bombing unharmed, but the attack ? in one of Damascus's wealthiest neighborhoods ? shows the safe zone for regime members is shrinking.?
By Arthur Bright,?Staff writer / April 29, 2013
This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows Syrian fire fighters extinguishing burning cars after a car bomb exploded in the capital's western neighborhood of Mazzeh, in Damascus, Syria, Monday, April. 29, 2013.
SANA/AP
Enlarge
? A daily summary of global reports on security issues.
Skip to next paragraph Arthur Bright
Europe Editor
Arthur Bright is the Europe Editor at The Christian Science Monitor.? He has worked for the Monitor in various capacities since 2004, including as the Online News Editor and a regular contributor to the Monitor's Terrorism & Security blog.? He is also a licensed Massachusetts attorney.
Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition
The Syrian prime minister survived a bomb attack on his convoy this morning in a wealthy neighborhood of Damascus, though his bodyguard was killed and several others were injured in the blast.
The attack in the "upscale" neighborhood highlights the increasing vulnerability of the Assad regime, as it is home to many government officials and several embassies ? including the Swiss embassy, located only 100 yards from the blast, according to the Associated Press.
According to Syrian state television, Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi was unharmed in the blast, which occurred as he was traveling through the western Damascus neighborhood of Mazzeh.? A Syrian official told AP that the explosion was caused by an IED planted beneath a parked car that detonated as Mr. Halqi's convoy passed.
The state-run Al-Ikhbariya station said al-Halqi went into a regular weekly meeting with an economic committee straight after the bombing and showed him sitting around a table in a room with several other officials.
The TV said it was showing the video as a proof that al-Halqi was not hurt. But the prime minister's comments after the meeting did not refer to Monday's blast and he was not asked about it by reporters, leaving doubts as to whether the footage was filmed before or after the bombing.
The state-aired footage showed heavily damaged cars and debris in the area of the blast as firefighters fought to extinguish a large blaze caused by the explosion.
No one has claimed responsibility for the blast, but BBC News notes that similar bombings have been linked to Jabhat al-Nusra, a jihadist rebel group affiliated with Al Qaeda in Iraq.
Halqi, a Sunni, was appointed last August after his predecessor, Riyad Hijab, defected from the government after serving for only two months. Reuters noted that President Bashar al-Assad and his father, both of whom are Alawites, a minority Shiite-related sect, have consistently appointed members of Syria's majority Sunni community to the premiership, but the position is largely powerless. The presidency and most of Assad's security positions are held by Alawites.
Meanwhile, rebels continued an assault launched Sunday in northern Syria to seize three military airbases and choke off the Assad regime's air power. Lebanon's Daily Star writes that, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, rebels breached the Kweiras air base in Aleppo Province and the Abu Zuhour air base in Idlib Province on Saturday, and have been fighting government forces for control.
?The rebels have broken into the [Abu Zuhour] airport but they are still on the periphery and are engaged in violent clashes with soldiers,? Observatory director Rami Abdel-Rahman told AFP. ?It?s an important military airport because it?s still functional.?
The rebels also invaded a helicopter base near the Turkish border yesterday, the Daily Star adds. The Islamist al-Burraq Brigades said that several rebel factions are attacking the base to capture it.
Aerial bombardments by the Syrian Air Force have been responsible for some 45,000 fatalities during the Syrian civil war, the Monitor reported at the start of this year. Rebels consider the regime's air power its "main threat"?because they can do little to stop attacks by helicopters and jets, even in territory they hold on the ground.
This story is from a few years back, but it?s so adorable. A woman had a fire at her home, she grabbed her cat and ran out, only to realize that her other cat was still inside.
She was beside herself with grief.
So the fireman broke a window, ran inside, got the second cat ? which was unconscious by the back door, paw marks on the screen as if it had tried in vain to get out, brought the cat outside, and put an oxygen mask on its face, then ran back to fight the fire. When he came back, the cat ? to his surprise ? was walking around.
These are not the cats in question, but rather a reader?s pets, Boogie and Smokey, who are standing in for the actual cats in this story, as I don?t have rights to the photo I link to.
There?s an adorable photo of him giving the cat oxygen, and one of the cat?s kittens looking one.
And here?s a newscast about it, interviewing the woman and the firemen.
View more news videos at: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/video.
?
John Aravosis @aravosis | Facebook | Google+. Editor of AMERICAblog, joint JD/MSFS from Georgetown, worked in the US Senate, World Bank, Children's Defense Fund, and as a stringer for the Economist. A frequent TV pundit, he has been on The O'Reilly Factor, Hardball, World News Tonight, Nightline & Reliable Sources. Full bio and article archive.
Did you expect to see someone wearing Google Glass in a box? Did you expect to see someone wearing Google Glass with a fox? Did you expect to see someone wearing Google Glass with a mouse? How about a mouse? You probably didn't expect to see them in the shower, that's for sure.
RELATED: Google's Futuristic Glasses Have 'Potential'
Unexplainable tech human Robert Scoble shared this picture of himself wearing those?unmistakable? Google Glasses in what's probably the last place Google expected someone to wear them: the shower. Except they're waterproof, he says, so maybe Google is just as crazy.
I wore Google Glass into the shower today. plus.google.com/11109108952772? Yes, they are waterproof. Still work just fine!
? Robert Scoble (@Scobleizer) April 28, 2013
See, Scoble wrote this ridiculous review of Google Glass where he promised to never take them off ever again. Scoble is a bit of an odd duck in the tech world. He doesn't do much besides take new tech things and then cheer them on and then move onto the next cool thing. He's like a teen being influenced by?subliminal?messaging in Josie and the Pussy Cats:?
RELATED: The Plan to Make Google Glass Seem Totally Normal Is Backfiring
RELATED: This Is Google's Vision of the Future
It was Scoble's irresponsible enthusiasm for anything, literally anything, that caused such a strong reaction from most tech observers. "Scoble is an indiscriminate evangelist; he embraces virtually any new technology with inhuman enthusiasm," writes?Buzzfeed's John Herrman.?"This makes him useful as a sort ofreductio ad absurdum?product processor: he takes a new service or thing and?gives?himself to it, both testing it and inadvertently demonstrating the logical conclusion of its creators' visions."?Valleywag's Sam Biddle?cut through more of Scoble's ridiculousness and parsed this simple picture upload to what it really is: a marketing ploy. "Glass isn't just the newest status bauble of Scoble and his buzz-crazed ilk: it's a future moneymaker, and this is marketing," he writes. "So the next time he explains how great Glass is for live-broadcasting sex with his wife, a bank robbery, or telling children they're adopted, remember this evangelism for what it really is: publicity."
RELATED: These Google Glass Early Adopters Will Warm Your Heart
This is hopefully nadir of Scoble's Google Glass obsession, or at least his obsession with proving he's obsessed with Google Glass. No one wants to know where else he could wear them. Google's already fighting off the impression that Glass will get you beat up, and the adoption of the phrase "Glasshole" to describe Glass wearers. (And there's no debating Scoble is a glasshole.) Heck, most people think Glass is just plain weird. No one needs to see Google Glass in a stranger place or situation than the shower. No one needs to see a Google Glass sex tape. Because really this is further than anyone wanted in the first place:?
Both President Barack Obama and Conan O'Brien decided to cast Hollywood versions of D.C. at the White House Correspondents' Dinner this year. Obama's version was directed by Steven Spielberg, O'Brien's starred "Tan Mom" as John Boehner.
With the celebrities having walked the White House Correspondents' Dinner red carpet and the crowd in the Washington Hilton having eaten and schmoozed, it came time for the key parts of the evening: remarks from President Obama and Conan O'Brien. Of particular interest was how the president was going to address the recent bombings in Boston, and, along those same lines, what tone O'Brien will take.
Obama came out swinging with jokes at the ready. One of his opening lines joked about his age: ?I?m not the strapping young Muslim socialist I used to be.? He made light of the frenzy over Michelle Obama's bangs, by explaining his strategy for a second term burst of energy showing a series of pictures with his new hairstyle:
He riffed on topics ranging from his Jay-Z's trip to Cuba ("I?ve got 99 problems and now Jay-Z is one of them") to BuzzFeed ("I remember when Buzzfeed was just something I did at college around 2 a.m.") He even took aim at the much maligned NBC when he talked about how he made only two shots at the Easter Egg Roll: "The executives at NBC asked ?what?s your secret?" But his highlight was a video with Steven Spielberg, about Spielberg's new project: "Obama." Spielberg cast Daniel Day-Lewis as Obama, but in the video shown Obama played Daniel Day-Lewis playing Obama. Tracy Morgan played Joe Biden. Here's that clip:
?
But Obama closed on a more serious note. "These have been some very hard days for too many of our citizens," he said. He also complimented the work of journalists during these days, specifically calling out the Boston Globe and NBC's Pete Williams.
Following Obama Conan O'Brien got his fair share of groans?both in the room and on Twitter?when he took aim at a variety of topics ranging from the Hilton, to dying print media, to Kim Jong-Un. He joked that Arianna Huffington made him watch a 30 second ad before he could say hello to her, and that Matt Drudge wasn't there because he had a "he had a prior commitment to teach a web design class in 1997." There were CNN jokes a plenty, including one about how they ?they replaced the popular Larry King with one of the scheming footman from Downton Abbey.? (That's Piers Morgan, of course.) He explained that the media landscape was like a high school cafeteria with NPR as the table for "kids with peanut allergies." There was also a joke about the time Al Roker soiled himself at the White House.
O'Brien then turned his attention to Republicans, saying that the party refers to Marco Rubio as "our black guy" and joking about Reince Priebus' name. (He was sitting between brothers "Lather Priebus and Repeat Priebus.") He went fairly easy on the president, asking why he was still asking for money, and joking about how old he looks.
Before his final joke he took a moment to address Boston, his hometown, and thank the president for going there, but he ended by casting his version of a dramatized version of the Beltway. There Joe Biden will be played by Bob Barker, Paul Ryan by Mr. Bean, and John Kerry by an Easter Island Head:
O'Brien's performance?in which he talked very loudly into the microphone and occasionally banged a gavel?did not go over entirely well on Twitter.
Note to #WHCD: Maybe we just forget about a "headliner" for the next couple years?
TOKYO (AP) ? Toyota is teaming up with Microsoft for an Internet service that links cars, home computers and smartphones so users can find nearby tourist spots, connect on social networks and learn about new models.
The beefed up version of Toyota's Internet site Gazoo.com starts May 30 in Japan, and will be based on "cloud" computing from Microsoft Corp. called Windows Azure. Overseas plans are still undecided.
According to the U.S. software giant, it is the first time the technology, which also uses Sharepoint software, is being used for a company site.
Gazoo.com users tripled over the last five years to 1.65 million. Toyota Motor Corp. said Friday it wants to raise that to 2 million over the next year.
All the world's major automakers are working on similar technology to bring autos up-to-date with the Internet age, from finding restaurants to helping ensure safe driving.
But a major motive for Toyota is appealing to younger Japanese, who are rapidly losing interest in buying cars and are spending their money on smartphones and video games. The trend is so widespread there is a coined phrase, "kuruma banare," or "departure from cars."
Among the Net content in the works are video games, shopping-site links, virtual events and a special social network to chat about cars, according to Toyota. A smartphone application will guide drivers with an electronic voice to 30,000 destinations from 250 routes.
The site will also offer information on more than 3,000 new and used models, including interviews with engineers.
Switching to Microsoft's cloud computing will cut costs for operating the services, although Toyota plans to invest more money in new content for Gazoo.com.
Toyota reached an agreement with Microsoft in April 2011, to work together on telematics, or network technology for cars.
Toyota looked at other cloud computing services before picking Microsoft for the latest project, said Hiroyuki Yamada, an executive at e-Toyota, which looks over such technology.
It is unclear whether the site will really lead to car sales, but Toyota will be able to tap into data on consumer behavior, as well as try to revive Japanese people's fading interest in cars, he said.
Gazoo.com is the brainchild of Akio Toyoda, the president and grandson of Toyota's founder. Well versed in Internet technology, Toyoda was ahead of his time in foreseeing the importance of social networks and stressing how Toyota needs a presence in the blogosphere.
Toyota has a partnership with another U.S. cloud computing company, Salesforce.com, which runs a social network for Toyota plug-in hybrid owners so they can see how efficiently they have been driving and be alerted when their vehicle has recharged. Toyoda also pioneered that partnership.
___
Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at www.twitter.com/yurikageyama
Horizon Technology Finance Corp. has closed a $2 million venture loan to New Haven Pharmaceuticals. Guilford, Conn.-based New Haven is a specialty pharmaceutical company.
PRESS RELEASE
Horizon Technology Finance Corporation (Nasdaq: HRZN) (?Horizon?), a leading specialty finance company that provides secured loans to venture capital and private equity backed development-stage companies in the technology, life science, healthcare information and services, and clean-tech industries, today announced it has closed a $2 million venture loan facility with New Haven Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (?NHP?), a developer of prescription pharmaceuticals that utilize currently marketed drugs or active pharmaceutical ingredients generally recognized as safe for use in therapeutic applications. The proceeds of the venture loan facility will be used for working capital purposes. ?We are pleased to provide NHP with a venture loan facility which will support its development of proprietary prescription pharmaceuticals,? stated Gerald A. Michaud , President of Horizon. ?NHP continues to achieve important strides in developing products for patients with a higher risk for secondary strokes or acute cardiac events. Based on the company?s impressive product pipeline and experienced, well-respected management team, NHP represents a strong addition to Horizon?s high-quality investment portfolio.? ?Horizon?s $2 million venture loan facility provides NHP with the right capital structure and the timely liquidity to continue to execute our product development and FDA registration plans,? stated Patrick P. Fourteau, NHP?s President & CEO. Harry H. Penner, Jr. , NHP?s Executive Chairman, added, ?The responsiveness and flexibility of the Horizon team resulted in a seamless process from initial contact to funding and a very positive business experience. It?s gratifying to have Horizon, a Connecticut-based company like our own, as a financial partner.? About Horizon Technology Finance?Horizon Technology Finance Corporation is a business development company that provides secured loans to development-stage companies backed by established venture capital and private equity firms within the technology, life science, healthcare information and services, and clean-tech industries. The investment objective of Horizon Technology Finance is to maximize total risk-adjusted returns by generating current income from a portfolio of directly originated secured loans as well as capital appreciation from warrants to purchase the equity of portfolio companies. Headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut, with regional offices in Walnut Creek, California and Reston, Virginia, the Company is externally managed by its investment advisor, Horizon Technology Finance Management LLC. Horizon?s common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol, ?HRZN.? In addition, the Company?s 7.375% Senior Notes due 2019 trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ?HTF.? To learn more, please visit www.horizontechnologyfinancecorp.com. About New Haven Pharmaceuticals?New Haven Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NHP) is a specialty pharmaceutical company developing proprietary prescription drug products based on proprietary controlled-release technologies, as well as intellectual property licensed from Yale University, which will enable optimal dosing, safety, efficacy and patient convenience. For more information on NHP, please visit www.newhavenpharma.com, or contact Harry H. Penner, Jr. , Executive Chairman at (203) 676-3676, or email at [email?protected] Forward-Looking Statements?Statements included herein may constitute ?forward-looking statements? within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements other than statements of historical facts included in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements and are not guarantees of future performance, condition or results and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including those described from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement made herein. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release.
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's government-controlled parliament set up an inquiry on Wednesday into violence over a disputed election that authorities blame on opposition leader Henrique Capriles.
Nine people died and dozens were injured after opposition protests against Nicolas Maduro's narrow April 14 presidential poll win turned violent around the South American nation.
The government said the unrest was evidence the opposition was planning a coup. Capriles' camp rejects that, saying officials exaggerated the violence and included deaths from common crimes to bolster the toll and discredit the opposition.
"The government is desperately sowing lies," said Capriles, who called supporters onto the streets after the disputed election results, but has since urged only peaceful protests.
"I have a clear conscience ... the people who stole the election want the country to stay divided."
The National Assembly said on Twitter that a special committee would begin meeting on Monday to investigate the violence. "The commission will determine responsibility for violent actions directed by Capriles," it said.
Government legislator Pedro Carreno, who will head the committee that does not include any opposition parliamentarians, called Capriles a "murderer" during Wednesday's announcement.
"Sooner rather than later, he will have to pay for those crimes," Carreno said, describing the death of an 11-year-old girl as the result of "fascism."
Inside Venezuela, reports of the violence have varied, with state media painting an image of pro-opposition mobs burning government offices and health facilities.
Opposition media have quoted relatives of victims saying some of the deaths had nothing to do with the political tensions, and shown images of facilities functioning normally.
In a sustained assault against Capriles from numerous senior officials, National Assembly head Diosdado Cabello called him a "fascist murderer," while Prisons Minister Iris Varela said a jail cell and rehabilitation therapies awaited him.
CLOSE FINISH
Capriles, a 40-year-old state governor who promises Brazilian-style pro-business policies mixed with strong social protections, confounded opinion polls to run a close finish against Maduro in the vote to succeed late socialist leader Hugo Chavez.
Despite an initial large gap in the polls, emotion around the death of Chavez who had endorsed him as successor, as well as a powerful state apparatus behind his election campaign, Maduro won by less than 2 percentage points.
Capriles said the ballot was marred by thousands of irregularities, including intimidation of voters at poll centers, and demanded a recount.
The election board is carrying out a partial audit but has said that will not change the result.
Capriles told reporters the opposition would only wait until Thursday for concrete details on the process. "We will not accept a joke audit," he said. "It's time to get serious."
He did not say what would happen if the deadline were not met. Earlier during his news conference, Capriles had sharply criticized a "cadena" broadcast - which all local channels are required to show live - that the government played on Tuesday.
Comparing it with videos of his speeches, the opposition leader said his words had been taken out of context to make it look like he was whipping up violence. Moments later, his press conference was interrupted - by a repeat of the same "cadena."
That triggered a noisy demonstration in at least one wealthier Caracas neighborhood, with Capriles supporters banging pots and pans from windows in a traditional form of protest.
"They want to stop people seeing the truth," he said later.
Both Maduro and Capriles have called on their supporters to march again on May 1 in another potential flashpoint for the OPEC nation of 29 million people.
In 2004, Capriles was jailed for four months after being accused of stirring up violence during a protest at the Cuban embassy two years earlier. He denied the accusation, saying he was mediating there. The case was set aside.
(Additional reporting by Diego Ore and Marianna Parraga; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Eric Walsh)
The last time I owned a videogame console, Hypercolor shirts were in, everyone pegged their jeans, and I had a perm. In other words, it was a long time ago. (It was the Nintendo Entertainment System, by the way.)
I?m ready to get a new system now, and choosing one is proving to be a difficult decision. Microsoft?s Xbox 360, Sony?s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo?s Wii U are the most well-known and popular ones. But I don?t want to spend a lot of money, and I already have Roku set-top box and DVD player, so I don?t necessarily need the entertainment aspects of those systems. What to get?
Enter Green Throttle. Started by one of the co-creators of the Guitar Hero videogame with two former Palm employees, Green Throttle is an app and game-controller solution that aims to turn your existing Android tablet or smartphone into a game console.
The only thing you have to buy is the Atlas game controller, which costs $40 and connects via Bluetooth. If your mobile device can be plugged into a TV for playing video, the company also sells bundles that include special cables for connecting to your HDTV. Meanwhile, the company?s free Arena application acts as the game center, where you can download titles and play games
Green Throttle is more about enhancing the game-playing experience of mobile devices, rather than being a direct competitor to Xbox or PlayStation. And it succeeds in that goal. The controller allows for more precision and capabilities than a touchscreen. It?s also nice to be able to play games on a bigger screen. But there?s a big drawback, and that?s its lack of compatible games. There are currently less than a dozen games that work with Green Throttle, so it?s simply not worth buying right now ? though it has potential.
Green Throttle works with any device running on Google?s Android operating system, version 4.0 or higher. I tested it on the Google Nexus 7 and Amazon Kindle Fire HD, and setup was relatively painless.
After turning on the Atlas controller and downloading the Arena from the Google Play Store, I went to the app?s settings menu to connect the controller. The pairing process took some time, though. Normally, when I connect a Bluetooth headset or keyboard to a smartphone or tablet for the first time, the whole process only takes a couple of minutes.
With Green Throttle, it took at least a few minutes for both tablets to find the Atlas controller. Enough time had elapsed that I thought something might be wrong, but eventually I got a prompt to connect to the controller, and I was up and running shortly after that. Fortunately, once paired, reconnections were almost instantaneous.
The controller is similar to the ones used with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It?s powered by two AA batteries (included in the package), and there are two joysticks, a directional pad, X, Y, A, B buttons, and two trigger and two shoulder buttons on the top edge of the controller. The power, start and back buttons are located in the middle. All the controls were within easy reach, and provided good feedback ? not too stiff or mushy-feeling.
The user interface of the Green Throttle Arena game hub is pretty straightforward. There are four tabbed sections you can peruse through: Home, My Games, Recommended and Settings. The latter is self-explanatory. Home features the latest Green Throttle news, recent games and featured games. My Games is where you?ll find all your downloaded titles, while Recommended surfaces editors? picks.
A couple of things were missing: One is a search feature for looking up specific titles; the other is the ability to look for games by type, such as action, puzzle, sports and so on. Green Throttle says it will add both functions in the future.
For now, this isn?t a huge issue, since there aren?t that many games. Games must be built to work with the Atlas controllers, so you can?t use them to play titles you?ve already downloaded from the Google Play store.
Currently, there are only eight available titles from the Arena game store. Green Throttle said it is adding one or two new games to the store every week, and more than 500 companies are using its software to build titles for the system, including a few well-known console game developers.
I tried all eight titles. Most are casual or retro-style arcade games. Given the limitations of a mobile device?s hardware (computing and graphics power, memory, etc.), you won?t find any really complex or graphics-intensive titles, compared to dedicated game consoles like the Xbox and PlayStation, or even the Razer Edge gaming tablet. So, if you?re looking for big-name titles like Assassin?s Creed III or BioShock Infinite, this isn?t the system for you.
Instead, you get games like Coral Combat, a Space Invaders-type game that takes place underwater, or FishTails, a racing game where you have to collect as many coins as possible while dodging obstacles. There are also multiplayer games like Crystal Swarm, where you can team up to kill alien bugs. I played the game with a friend, using the Kindle Fire HD hooked up to my Samsung TV.
They?re all worth a try (most games are free, but APO Snow costs $1.99, and Gunslugs costs $1.49), but given their simple nature, I wasn?t drawn to play them on a regular basis, with the exception of the snowboarding game APO Snow, and Blocks Party.
Performance was smooth. Also, having a controller with physical buttons made it easy to navigate through the games and accomplish moves.
Final score: Green Throttle takes the mobile gaming experience to the next level in an affordable way, but it?s not worth it until it beefs up its game selection.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Los Angeles may boast some of the best weather among U.S. cities while scoring high in celebrity sightings, but the Southern California metropolis remains unable to shake off its more notorious No. 1 rankings for worst smog and heaviest traffic.
Los Angeles, the nation's second-largest city, again topped the charts for ozone pollution, and finished fourth for particulate pollution such as dust and soot, in the American Lung Association's annual national air quality report card, released on Wednesday.
The farming town of Bakersfield, California, was rated No. 1 for particulates.
The greater Los Angeles area has ranked every year but one since the association's first report in 2000 as the city with the worst levels for ozone, a key component of smog formed when sunlight reacts with hydrocarbon and nitrous oxide emissions.
A major source of ozone pollutants is tailpipe emissions from automobiles, which in turn account for Los Angeles' No. 1 ranking this year as the nation's most traffic-clogged city, according to a separate annual study released on Wednesday.
Honolulu dropped from first to second place in traffic congestion, followed by San Francisco at No. 3, the traffic-data company Inrix, based in Seattle, reported.
Inrix also found road and highway congestion in the Los Angeles area was back on the rise in early 2013 after two straight years of decline, a likely reflection of an improved economy.
Los Angeles has roughly 10 times more roads than Honolulu, but the Inrix study provides a comparative gauge of travel time it calls the "gridlock index," which measures the intensity of traffic congestion to local drivers as it occurs.
According to Inrix, the average Los Angeles motorist wasted 59 hours last year in jammed traffic, compared with 50 hours for the average Honolulu driver.
In terms of air quality, California as a whole dominated the list of the most polluted U.S. cities, accounting for seven of the top 10 for ozone and eight of the top 10 for annual levels of particulate pollution, the American Lung Association said.
Nearly 90 percent of Californians, or 33.5 million people, live in areas plagued by unhealthy air, especially in Los Angeles, the so-called Inland Empire region east of the city, the state capital of Sacramento, and the agricultural heartland of the San Joaquin Valley, the group's study found.
Those residents are at greater risk for asthma attacks, heart attacks and premature death, the association said.
However, many California cities have shown steady progress on improving air quality, particularly the Los Angeles region, whose ozone levels have fallen by 36 percent since the organization's first State of the Air report card in 2000.
The region's annual particle pollution has dropped by 43 percent in that time and is now close to meeting the federal year-round standard for particulates.
The U.S. cities ranked as having the cleanest air in the latest report were Ames, Iowa, for ozone and Cheyenne, Wyoming, for annual particulate pollution.
(Reporting by Steve Gorman; Additional reporting by Dana Feldman; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Eric Beech)
Nevertheless, what fails to come across to the masses is that quick repair and wonder drugs do not do the job, nor are they healthy, and that only a rigid diet regime and training regime will yield the success that they want to have and display off to every person. Curiously enough, new reports have released alternative diet plan adjustments that can be manufactured to the issues that you may now partake in, which usually means that you can continue to consume and try to eat items that you are use to, but not feel as bad about them mainly because they will truly support you in losing excess weight and doing the job in the direction of your improved determine.
So the previous axiom that caffeine can stunt a kid?s expansion is a fantasy. It was based on the reality that in more mature studies, caffeine was related with low bone mass for the reason that those people experiments have been finished on elderly folks who both equally drank a great deal of espresso and had eating plans that have been minimal in calcium. New scientific studies in the US adopted eighty young people about six several years, and found no big difference in the bone density of people with a substantial level of caffeine in their diet regime, as opposed to all those adolescents who experienced small caffeine. Other scientific tests determined that the sum of calcium dropped from bones is tiny and can be balanced by acquiring enough calcium in your diet program.
More to getting capable to love a new cup of flavorful espresso day-to-day, one more rationale why a lot more and additional people today these days want to roast coffee beans by on their own at property is the health and fitness positive aspects that consuming freshly roasted espresso provides. Several studies have unveiled the critical wellness situations that can be incurred from consuming preservative-laced meals, which undoubtedly does not exclude the normal quick coffee blend that we can invest in from the grocery. Regrettably, nevertheless, having fun with a 100 percent contemporary cup of espresso is not a a person-phase system. It entails watchful selecting and suitable roasting of environmentally friendly beans.
On August seven, 2012, Yahoo News presented an exciting tidbit about green coffee bean extract by noting that it is in fact derived from the pink coffee cherry-berry fruit, which arrives from the Arabic or Robusta plant. The ultimate conundrum, is it crimson or inexperienced? Or does it subject to the large percentage of obese folks who may benefit from this latest and encouraging discovery?
Green tea tops the list of hunger suppressant teas. Eco-friendly tea was acknowledged and used in China since a long time for its several medicinal makes use of. Alongside with body weight decline and avoidance of certain kinds of cancer, green tea can help in curbing hunger. A cup of inexperienced tea tends to make you really feel fuller and suppresses starvation.
A CAD transaction allows the exporter to have payment deposited into his bank account right after presenting to the lender the essential files proving that the espresso bought by the importer (buyer) meets the technical specs in the coffee invest in contract/agreement. The exporter?s financial institution will ascertain exactly what documents are needed.
As a facet be aware on the wellbeing effect of the diterpenes identified in common espresso, it was found that by only drinking filter espresso, none of these effects on cholesterol stages or the liver took put. The coffee filter taken off the offending diterpenes. And stages of these diterpenes in instant espresso are minimal.
If you are you looking for more regarding relevant internet page
It has become a truism that ?men don?t read women.? The assertion is taken as self-evident by feminist publications like Salon (?while women read books written by men, men do not tend to reciprocate?) and shown anecdotally by blogs. It is also perpetuated by male bastions like Esquire, which recently released a list ?of the greatest works of literature ever published? featuring one (1) book by a woman out of a total of 75. (Dudes like stuff that is ?plot-driven and exciting, where one thing happens after another,? helpfully explains Esquire?s editor-in-chief, who introduced Fiction for Men e-books to widespread scorn last year.)
To be sure, the inequalities of the literary world are as plain as the nose on Jonathan Franzen?s face, and many writers and readers alike remain outraged about this unbalanced state of affairs. The Women In Literary Arts numbers for 2012 (compiled annually by VIDA) have barely budged from 2010 and 2011?men still dominate the major outlets as tastemakers, reviewers, and authors whose works are deemed worthy of review. The Nation recently published a cri de coeur by novelist Deborah Copaken Kagan lamenting ?centuries of literary sexism, exclusion, cultural bias, invisibility. There's a reason J. K. Rowling's publishers demanded that she use initials instead of "Joanne": It's the same reason Mary Anne Evans used the pen name George Eliot.? And a recent Salon interview with Meg Wolitzer addressing these frustrations is titled ?Men won?t read books about women.?
The truth is more complicated. Of course men read books about women and have for centuries?what are Madame Bovary and Anna Karenina if not classic books about women? Those canonical examples are merely a couple of the ones explicitly named for their central character. Nobody picking up those lauded works of fiction could claim to have been misled by the title to think they were reading about Hitler?s Germany, or fishing, or fishing in Hitler?s Germany, or whatever else men are solely supposed to want to read about. (Tell me, Esquire!)
OK, you say, but those are books about ladies and traditionally feminine spheres by men. True enough! The same can be said for contemporary publishing phenomena like The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,The Golden Compass, and their sequels. Let us restate the argument, then: Perhaps men don?t read books by women.That is a solid thesis, but it?s based more on self-perpetuating impressions and assumptions than facts. Because publishers, editors, and agents fear that men won?t read books by women, they encourage people like Rowling and Evans?and, for that matter, the Bronte sisters, Hilda Doolittle, Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson, Karen Blixen, Alice Sheldon, Amandine Lucie Aurore Dupin, and an exhausting number of others?to hide behind gender-obscuring initials or pen names, and thus they exacerbate the problem. A male-seeming author of a well-loved book doesn?t help to change the perceptions of a male reader, just as a child who hates spinach doesn?t come to love it when it is blended skillfully into his cupcake.
Currently, the No. 1 best-selling book on Amazon.com is Sheryl Sandberg?s Lean In. Also making up half of the top 20: Susan Cain, E. L. James, Sarah Young, Kate Atkinson, Gillian Flynn, Gwenyth Paltrow, Haylie Pomroy, Mimi Spencer, and F. Scott Fitzgerald, for his masterpiece about love, loss, romantic longing, and the hottest parties in town. In 2012, again, 10 of Amazon?s top 20 best-selling books were written or co-written by women, including Nos. 1, 2, and 3. In 2011, the total was six out of 20, and in 2010, it was eight, but numerous spots both years were occupied by the tales of Stieg Larson?s female vengeance demon Lisbeth Salander. Agatha Christie wrote one of the best-selling books of all time (though she gave it a truly heinous title). Margaret Mitchell wrote another, and she shares that honor with Harper Lee, Anne Frank, Anna Sewell, and Johanna Spyri; J. K. Rowling wrote several, as did E. L. James, James?s hero Stephenie Meyer, and the much more sedate L. M. Montgomery. Perhaps a voracious female audience is enough to shoot ?mommy porn? like 50 Shades of Grey and Mormon porn like Twilight to the top of the charts, but it can?t alone account for the tremendous international appeal of by-women-about-women sensations like Suzanne Collins? The Hunger Games trilogy or Gillian Flynn?s Gone Girl. These are not anomalies; this is progress.
It seems clear, then, that men do read books by women and they do read books about women. Occasionally they read books by women, about women, and even esteem them, as in the case of Virginia Woolf?s To the Lighthouse, Elizabeth Strout?s Olive Kitteridge, and Toni Morrison?s Beloved, which was voted the best novel of the past 25 years in the New YorkTimes (it perches atop a list otherwise embarrassingly short on women). Hilary Mantel, Zadie Smith, Jennifer Egan, Marilynne Robinson, Tana French, Ann Patchett, and Cheryl Strayed are only some of the other prize-winning women writing under their own names, who are not only at the top of their game but at the top of their field.
Female authors still have a long way to go before they achieve parity with their male counterparts. The establishment, which as a whole has mainly pretended to take them seriously for the last 30 or so years, is still biased against them?often unintentionally or thoughtlessly. This bias seems to arise less out of malice than out of habit, because men?s experiences are assumed to be universal in a way that women?s aren?t and because men have been writing, publishing, and reading their own stories for almost a thousand years with almost no competition.
Holding the establishment to account for its oversights and entrenched prejudices is key, and it benefits all of us that a range of public intellectuals, from the brilliant Roxane Gay to the tireless soldiers of VIDA, continues that depressing work. But merely repeating the simplistic myth that men don?t read women discourages women and other underrepresented groups from following Amazon?s No. 1 best-selling author Sheryl Sandberg?s advice. It further codifies the noxious idea that men are intellectually uninterested in women as the Way It Is and the Way It Has To Be, because it?s the Way It Always Was. And it obscures the positive change happening, albeit slowly, in the literary world.
Littered among Nintendo's promises for the year were plans to take Miiverse, the company's social platform, to the next level. That starts today, with the company launching a web portal for the community. Wii U owners can now access their Miiverse activity feed, user menu, notifications and communities through miiverse.nintendo.net using the same login information they created when they first set up their home console. The experience is limited for now, users can comment on and Yeah! (Miiverse's take on "like") existing posts, but can't create new threads. In addition to being Nintendo's first public foray into the social space, it also marks the first time the company has used its Nintendo Network ID outside of the Wii U ecosystem. According to the company's Twitter account, Nintendo considers this a beta expereince, and has said in the past that a dedicated Miiverse app and 3DS access will be available in the future. For now, Nintendo's social legions will have to settle for a web-based experience -- it may seem like a slow start, but for Nintendo it's a giant leap forward.
Maira Garcia, right, and Maria Vargas wait to get married at the Brooklyn City Clerk's office on July 24, 2011.??
New England's gay marriage holdout may soon join the rest of the region in allowing same-sex unions.
Rhode Island senators are expected to vote on a measure as early as Wednesday, making the state the 10th in the nation to allow same-sex marriage. A similar bill has already passed the House.
Interestingly, every single Republican senator in the state has pledged his or her support for gay marriage, making the five members the first legislative caucus of either party to unanimously sign on to same-sex marriage in any state. Democrats have traditionally led the charge for legalizing gay marriage in other states.
The state is the last in New England to bar same-sex marriage.
The New York Times notes that same-sex marriage could also pass this year in Delaware, Illinois and Minnesota, where lawmakers are actively considering bills.
The Supreme Court is expected to decide in June whether the federal government must recognize same-sex marriages for tax and other legal purposes, or whether it can continue to ignore them under the Defense of Marriage Act.
Allegany College's forestry department honored for environmental stewardshipPublic release date: 25-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Amy Pelsinsky apelsinsky@umces.edu 410-330-1389 University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Richard A. Johnson Environmental Education Award honors outstanding contributions to environmental education
FROSTBURG, MD (April 25, 2013) In honor of outstanding contributions to environmental education in Western Maryland, the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's Appalachian Laboratory has selected the Forestry Technology Program at Allegany College as recipient of its 2013 Richard A. Johnson Environmental Education Award. Beginning with eight students in 1968, the program has grown to produce 580 graduates who are helping to manage our natural resources, as well as making contributions to the health of our urban forests.
"From monitoring natural and man-made hazards, to exercising good forest management, the Forestry Technology Department at Allegany College is training the next generation of men and women responsible for conserving the great outdoors," said Dr. Ray Morgan, Acting Director of the Appalachian Laboratory.
The Forest Technology Program faculty being honored includes retired faculty Glenn O. Workman, Chair of the Sciences Division who spearheaded the program in 1968; William L. Cones, the first Director of the Forestry Program who introduced a more "hands on" approach to the curriculum and sought initial recognition by the Society of American Foresters in 1970; and Rex Harper, the second full-time forester to teach in the program. Today, Science Department Chair John Jastrzembski, Program Coordinator Steve Resh, Professor Jim Howell, and Forestry Technician Marie Perrin Miller have been guiding the forestry curriculum into the 21st century.
The Forestry Program is accredited by the Society of American Foresters (SAF), and is one of only 22 accredited programs in North America. Most recently, Forest Technology students collected data in Savage River State Forest for a project in conjunction with Frostburg State University and the Maryland State Department of Natural Resources. The project is part of the long-term monitoring (20+ years) of forest stands severely impacted by infestations of European Gypsy moths. Graduates find careers as arborists, forest rangers and technicians, resource managers, wildfire specialists, and soil conservationists.
The award honors the memory of Richard A. Johnson, a well-known orthopedic surgeon in the Allegany County area. He passed away in 1990, leaving a legacy of a caring and dedicated physician, family man, and naturalist. The Appalachian Laboratory honors his memory through its promotion of environmental education in Western Maryland and the people who excel in its practice.
The Richard A. Johnson Environmental Education Award provides $2,000 to support further environmental education activities. The endowment supporting the award was made possible through the generous support of Allegheny Power, NewPage Corporation, Alliance Resource Partners (Mettiki Coal), and numerous other donors over the past decade. Generous sponsors of this year's program include AES Warrior Run, Mettiki Coal, NewPage Paper, Allegany College, Savage River Lodge, Deep Creek Cellars, and numerous friends.
Founded in 1961, the Appalachian Laboratory in Frostburg, Maryland is one of five research centers that make up the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. The lab focuses its research on terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, how they function in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and how human activity may influence their health and sustainability on local, regional and global scales.
###
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science unleashes the power of science to transform the way society understands and manages the environment. By conducting cutting-edge research into today's most pressing environmental problems, we are developing new ideas to help guide our state, nation, and world toward a more environmentally sustainable future through five research centersthe Appalachian Laboratory in Frostburg, the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory in Solomons, the Horn Point Laboratory in Cambridge, the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology in Baltimore, and the Maryland Sea Grant College in College Park. http://www.umces.edu
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Allegany College's forestry department honored for environmental stewardshipPublic release date: 25-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Amy Pelsinsky apelsinsky@umces.edu 410-330-1389 University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Richard A. Johnson Environmental Education Award honors outstanding contributions to environmental education
FROSTBURG, MD (April 25, 2013) In honor of outstanding contributions to environmental education in Western Maryland, the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's Appalachian Laboratory has selected the Forestry Technology Program at Allegany College as recipient of its 2013 Richard A. Johnson Environmental Education Award. Beginning with eight students in 1968, the program has grown to produce 580 graduates who are helping to manage our natural resources, as well as making contributions to the health of our urban forests.
"From monitoring natural and man-made hazards, to exercising good forest management, the Forestry Technology Department at Allegany College is training the next generation of men and women responsible for conserving the great outdoors," said Dr. Ray Morgan, Acting Director of the Appalachian Laboratory.
The Forest Technology Program faculty being honored includes retired faculty Glenn O. Workman, Chair of the Sciences Division who spearheaded the program in 1968; William L. Cones, the first Director of the Forestry Program who introduced a more "hands on" approach to the curriculum and sought initial recognition by the Society of American Foresters in 1970; and Rex Harper, the second full-time forester to teach in the program. Today, Science Department Chair John Jastrzembski, Program Coordinator Steve Resh, Professor Jim Howell, and Forestry Technician Marie Perrin Miller have been guiding the forestry curriculum into the 21st century.
The Forestry Program is accredited by the Society of American Foresters (SAF), and is one of only 22 accredited programs in North America. Most recently, Forest Technology students collected data in Savage River State Forest for a project in conjunction with Frostburg State University and the Maryland State Department of Natural Resources. The project is part of the long-term monitoring (20+ years) of forest stands severely impacted by infestations of European Gypsy moths. Graduates find careers as arborists, forest rangers and technicians, resource managers, wildfire specialists, and soil conservationists.
The award honors the memory of Richard A. Johnson, a well-known orthopedic surgeon in the Allegany County area. He passed away in 1990, leaving a legacy of a caring and dedicated physician, family man, and naturalist. The Appalachian Laboratory honors his memory through its promotion of environmental education in Western Maryland and the people who excel in its practice.
The Richard A. Johnson Environmental Education Award provides $2,000 to support further environmental education activities. The endowment supporting the award was made possible through the generous support of Allegheny Power, NewPage Corporation, Alliance Resource Partners (Mettiki Coal), and numerous other donors over the past decade. Generous sponsors of this year's program include AES Warrior Run, Mettiki Coal, NewPage Paper, Allegany College, Savage River Lodge, Deep Creek Cellars, and numerous friends.
Founded in 1961, the Appalachian Laboratory in Frostburg, Maryland is one of five research centers that make up the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. The lab focuses its research on terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, how they function in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and how human activity may influence their health and sustainability on local, regional and global scales.
###
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science unleashes the power of science to transform the way society understands and manages the environment. By conducting cutting-edge research into today's most pressing environmental problems, we are developing new ideas to help guide our state, nation, and world toward a more environmentally sustainable future through five research centersthe Appalachian Laboratory in Frostburg, the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory in Solomons, the Horn Point Laboratory in Cambridge, the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology in Baltimore, and the Maryland Sea Grant College in College Park. http://www.umces.edu
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
By Mark Elkington MADRID, April 24 (Reuters) - Even Lionel Messi, so often Barcelona's saviour, was at a loss to explain how the La Liga leaders could come back from their Champions League semi-final mauling in Munich. Barca were thumped 4-0 away by an impressive Bayern Munich in their first leg on Tuesday, putting in one of their most toothless displays in recent memory. On Wednesday, they were greeted with newspaper headlines such as 'Historic beating' in Madrid-based daily Marca, 'Catastrophe' in Barcelona-based Mundo Deportivo, and 'Azulgrana Waterloo' in daily El Mundo. ...
I wrote an article on Apache Corp (APA) back in February asking if it was a good time to invest in the company. Here is what I concluded at the time:
"With Apache Corp. missing expectations for the fourth time in a row and the downsizing of 2013 expectations, I would play a wait and see on this stock. The reactionary move may or may not be done, but I am uncomfortable investing in too many unknowns at this point."
Two months have passed since I made that observation and it appears that J.P. Morgan analyst Joseph Allman would still agree with me as he has downgraded the company giving it a "neutral" rating. What is his reasoning behind this? The company has a good track record of returns and strong balance sheet with a nice diversification on its asset sheet, but in this present environment, the company is expecting low growth and there are no meaningful catalysts in the near future expected to help the stock. In fact, it does have some burdening assets that could cause it to even underperform its own group this year. Mr. Allman also dropped the price target from $89.50 to $76.50.
This slowdown in growth started last year when production growth came in at only 5.5% even though the company expected a 6% to 9% growth for the year. And in 2013 the company expects growth only 3% to 5% which is really disappointing investors.
Pro's for Buying
One thing Apache Corp. has going for it is that most of its revenue come from its liquid assets, namely oil and liquefied natural gas. In 2012 natural gas sales for the company only accounted for 11% of its revenue and this makes its exposure to the low natural gas prices less than that of companies in the same industry. Not only is the company more into oil and liquefied natural gas, but it also has nice reserves in the Permian basin and Gulf of Mexico. Since both these regions are known to have high oil reserves, this works in Apache's favor and all we need is a change in the economy for prices to start going up and Apache to start benefiting. So the low price of the stock could be an appealing price point the buy into.
It is no secret that the price of oil and the growth of the economy go hand-in-hand. In fact, I would say that oil prices tend to follow the market as a whole. It should not come as a surprise that as the economy has recently pulled back so oil has also dropped in price due to this weakness in the US economy and a slowdown in the Chinese growth rate. The price of oil will remain tied to economic performance as economic growth is so intertwined in its dependence upon oil to generate energy. One thing we need to keep our eyes on is US and global economic reports because this will help us understand where the price of oil is going.
One concern I would have as an investor right now would be the "Geo risk" that I see in Apache's present holdings. The company has close to 20% of its production in Egypt and this particular region is very risky at the present and could have an adverse effect on the company's production without warning. This political uncertainty and growing adversity to the United States (from a political standpoint) does not inspire me.
(click to enlarge)
Technically Speaking
Since mid April the stock has dropped dramatically, almost 10%, but found a base at the $68 price range. Can the stock drop further? There is not a lot of strength according to the RSI indicator to interpret the move of the stock beyond bearish territory. The MACD indicator confirms this weakness and the trend continues to stay in bearish territory. For this reason I would not make any observations that would point to the stock rebounding at this point. Nor do I find any news that's going to tell me that the stock is going to change direction either.
With J.P. Morgan's price point set at $76.50, that shows me that they expect the stock to barely move and trade in a channel. With the price of oil presently struggling and no catalyst seen in the near future to see oil prices go up, it does not look like Apache is a good long-term investment right now. But that does not mean that the company's forecasts for the year could not be low. All it will take is a turn in our economic indicators pointing to the fact that the economy is still growing and oil prices could start going up and this will help the company's revenue stream. Presently it looks like things are slowing down but in the big picture this could just be a bump in the road to long-term economic growth. If an investor looks at it from this standpoint then it could mean that Apache may be priced pretty well. But this is pure speculation and I tend stick with more concrete evidence when I invest. So I am still of the conclusion that investors should wait before jumping into the stock.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.(More...)