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While Apple is conservative on the ram department...they very well MIGHT and I HOPE make the ram 2GB for the 5S....it will be a great benefit..
Apple A7 64-bit chipset: Explained
Everything you need to know about the new Apple A7 system-on-a-chip with 64-bit ARMv8 architecture for twice the speed, twice the graphics, twice the registers, and OpenGL ES 3.0 for even greater gaming!
At the heart of every iPhone 5s beats an Apple A7 system-on-a-chip (SOC). That's the term for a central processing unit (CPU), graphics processing unit (GPU), and other components like random-access memory (RAM) spun together into a single, integrated chip. The big news is that the Apple A7 is twice as fast at both general purpose and graphics processing as its predecessor, the Apple A6, yet remains roughly the same size. The bigger news is that the Apple A7 is 64-bit, and the first 64-bit processor crafted for a consumer smartphone, and that it supports OpenGL ES 3.0, and comes with a companion chip, the M7 motion coprocessor.
Note: There's not a lot of real information available on the Apple A7 yet. Apple hasn't released much and they probably never will. It's not their way. We'll get a better idea about what the chipset is and what it means after the iPhone 5s is put through its paces, gets torn down, and gone at with an electron microscope. That aside, here's what Apple has had to say about the Apple A7 SoC so far:
There's fast. And then there's A7 fast. The new A7 chip gives you CPU and graphics performance up to 2x faster than the A6 chip. Even more impressive, A7 makes iPhone 5s the first 64-bit smartphone in the world — that's desktop-class architecture in a superslim phone. And because iOS 7 was built specifically for 64-bit, it's uniquely designed to take advantage of the A7 chip.
A7 supports OpenGL ES version 3.0 to deliver the kind of detailed graphics and complex visual effects once possible only on Mac computers, PCs, and gaming consoles. The difference is amazing. Take the imaginary worlds in games, for instance. Textures and shadows look more true to life. Sunlight reflects off the water. The whole experience feels much more realistic.
iOS 7 and all the built-in apps are optimized for the A7 chip. The Camera app is a great example. It takes advantage of a new image signal processor built into A7 to give you up to 2x faster autofocus, faster photo capture, and higher video frame rates.1 You'd think with all this going on, battery life would suffer. But it doesn't, because A7 is designed to be incredibly energy efficient.
Apple started designing their own chipsets with the Apple A4 for the original iPad in 2010. They brought that SoC to the the iPhone 4 later the same year. It sported an ARM Cortex-A8 CPU, a PowerVR SGX 535 GPU, and 512MB of RAM fabricated at 45nm, along with some performance enhancements supplied by Instrisity, a company Apple later bought.
With the iPad 2 in 2011, Apple introduced the dual-core Apple A5 SoC. It upped the ante to a ARM Cortex-A9, a PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU, and 512MB of RAM, and the iPhone 4S got it later that year as well. Dual-core, while adding a small amount of overhead, allowed certain features to be run in parallel. For example, one core could keep running the iPad while the other worked at beaming a video to an Apple TV over AirPlay.
The Apple A5 was originally fabricated at 45nm but Apple reduced it to 32nm in 2012 for the updated iPad 2, Apple TV 3, and iPod touch 5. Reducing the die size not only made the chip smaller, but more power efficient as well. Apple also added a quad-core PowerVR SGX543MP4 for the Apple A5X included inside the Retina iPad 3. Four times the graphics cores were needed to drive the massive 2048x1536 display on the iPad 3, and even then, to only barely above acceptable levels.
For the Apple A6 SoC in the 2012 iPhone 5, instead of sticking with the Cortex A9 or moving on the new ARM A15, Apple did something more aggressive, and a lot more impressive. They licensed the ARM v7s instruction set and rolled something uniquely their own. It was a 32nm CMOS dual-core Apple processor - called Swift - that could run from between 800MHz and 1.2GHz.
It was no doubt difficult and expensive to move to their own design, but it let Apple produce exactly the processor they wanted and needed to produce. Many of the advantages wouldn't - and still won't - play out immediately, but it took Apple's vertical software-and-hardware-integration model to an entirely new level.
Likewise, instead of going with the dual-core PowerVR SGX543MP2 graphics chip found in the iPhone 4S, or the giant quad-core PowerVR SGX543MP4 found in the iPad 3, Apple went with the triple-core PowerVR SGX543MP3 GPU. Again, 2 cores wouldn't have given the graphics performance they needed, four cores wouldn't have been as power efficient, and by designing it themselves they could use the part that was just right, topping it all off with 1GB of RAM. (The iPad 4 later got the Apple A6X with a quad-core PowerVR SGX543MP4 GPU, once again to drive the more pixel-heavy display).
Apple hasn't said exactly what it's packed into the new Apple A7 and likely never will. It's fairly certain at this point that Apple has licensed and is using the newer ARMv8 architecture for the CPU, and PowerVR Series 6 (Rogue) for the GPU. RAM remains uncertain. Apple is typically very conservative when it comes to memory, so the same 1GB as the A6 wouldn't be a huge surprise.
64-bit on the box
Apple claims the A7 is the world's first 64-bit smartphone processor. Like capacitive touch screens in a world that's resistive, and Retina displays when all eyes are on standard, 64-bit, while largely impenetrable to the mainstream is none the less recognizable and marketable. It sounds advanced. It sounds better than. It sounds leading edge. In a time when superficial public opinion is leaning away from Apple-as-innovator, the importance innovative, if superficial messaging cannot be stressed enough.
It's a competitive advantage as well. The interface dynamics in iOS 7 are already going to be hugely problematic for competitors to emulate. Re-building everything on top of a physics and particle engine is one thing, running constant blur shaders is quite another. It's not only computationally expensive, it's architecturally painful if you don't own the whole stack and product line from atom to bit.
The Apple A7 only compounds that problem. Even if a competitor can produce a 64-bit chipset of their own, how long will it take the operating system and apps to be update to support it? How architecturally painful will that be?
A7 and iOS 7 both take advantage of the unique strengths of Apple's product model. As difficult as it is for Apple to compete on hardware price, it will be incredible difficult for anyone to compete with what Apple is doing with their interface and integrated chipsets. Apple's profits have not historically depended on low-end market share, nor have competitors' popularity depended on best-in-class experience or architectural prescience, yet both are things everyone is going to have to pay attention to over the course of the next year or two.
Architectural advances
The 64-bit thing is causing some confusion. Mainly in the media. That makes a certain amount of sense. Mass media has mostly been told - and passed along - the most obvious consumer-facing benefits like the ability to address more than 4GB of RAM, and to work on much larger image and video files. It's easy to imagine a future where more powerful iPads and Apple TVs - both of which share the same processor architecture and operating system - can benefit from those capabilities, not to mention the Mac on ARM project at Apple that we might see the fruits of one day. But here, today, now, 64-bit in the iPhone 5s?
It still comes down to speed, though of a different kind.
Apple says the A7 has "desktop-class" architecture. That translates into a modern, more efficient ARM-based instruction set, 2 times the general-purpose registers, 2 times the floating-point registers, over 1 billion transistors, and all on a die that retains the same 102mm size as the previous Apple A6 processor. Which flew.
The ability to chew through registers in particular is being pointed out as a net positive. Registers are the memory units inside CPUs. They're what hold the bits being operated on at the moment. The more bits that can be held at once, the more operations that can be performed at once. And just like keeping bits in RAM is faster than moving them back and forth from physical storage, keeping them in registers is faster than going out to RAM or storage to get them.
Transparent transitions
Apple also claimed that, while the 32- to 64-bit transition took years on the PC, they're going to do it in a day. That's thanks to the Apple A7, iOS 7, and new versions of apps. Support has been built into iOS 7 for the 64-bit Apple A7. That includes native, 64-bit kernel, libraries, and drivers, built-in apps that have been re-built for 64-bit, an easy transition path for developers thanks to Xcode support, and the ability to build both 32- and 64-bit apps. The iPhone 5s will likewise run apps updated to 64-bit alongside apps still stuck at 32-bit, making it transparent to customers as well.
Here's what the Apple Developer Center says about the 64-bit transition:
iPhone 5s is powered by Apple's next generation A7 chip, making it the world's first smartphone with 64-bit desktop-class architecture for blazing fast performance in the palm of your hand. The iOS kernel, libraries, and drivers now take advantage of 64-bit, delivering up to 2x faster CPU and graphics performance for your apps and games. And it's easy to build and run your apps in 64-bit because Xcode automatically builds your apps into binaries that will run on both 32-bit and 64-bit devices.
There might be some increased memory demands, if both 32-bit and 64-bit frameworks are both being loaded, but hopefully the iPhone 5s hardware bump is, in part, designed to make that almost invisible as well.
Less in the abstract is the speed of transition. I worked in Enterprise during the Windows 64-bit change-over and it was ugly and annoying. I don't think most consumers even noticed the OS X 64-bit transition. Apple's proven they know how to handle these things so that they're almost transparent to the customer, and that's given them a huge edge for iOS.
Power pays
When it comes to raw speed, Apple claims the A7 CPU is twice as fast as the A6. For those keeping score at home, that works out to 40x faster than the original iPhone. (The latter is more vanity metric than obvious consumer benefit at this point, but it does illustrate just how far mobile processors have come.)
It's hard to really appreciate speed until you go back to something that isn't as fast. Be it broadband vs. dialup, LTE vs. 3G, SSD vs. HDD, or a processor that's twice as fast vs. one that now feels twice as slow. But the difference, one you might never have noticed before, becomes instantly apparent. iOS 7 will be pushing the limits of modern smartphone hardware. Increasing those limits will not only make iOS 7 perceptibly better, but it will make the kind of apps iOS 7 can run perceptibly better as well.
Gaming gains
Likewise, the Apple A7 GPU is also claimed to be twice as fast. That works out to 56x faster than the original iPhone. Additionally, the Apple A7 runs OpenGL ES 3.0, which should let game developers flip their 64-bit switches and bring their desktop class games to the iPhone 5s more easily and quickly than ever before. (Insert Infinity Blade 3 here.)
Here's what the Apple Developer Center says about OpenGL ES 3.0:
With iPhone 5s you can now create apps and games that look and perform better than ever with built in support for the latest version of OpenGL ES, version 3. The integrated graphics engine in A7 leverages the powerful 64-bit design to deliver beyond console-level graphics. Incorporate advances in the rendering pipeline, a new version of the GLSL ES shading language, and enhanced texturing capabilities in your apps today.
It's arguable whether or not Apple "gets games", and what they do with next-generation iPads, Apple TVs, and future devices remains to be seen. However, while "Console quality" is a term that gets thrown around a lot, 64-bit an OpenGL ES 3.0, shows Apple putting their tech where their mouth is.
Cameras, enclaves, and motion
What's in the Apple A7 processor goes beyond 64-bit, and beyond even the CPU and GPU. There's a new coprocessor called the M7 that works alongside the Apple A7 to handle motion-related tasks. There's also a new ISP for even better mobile photography, and a dedicated enclave to securely store Touch ID fingerprint authentication data. We'll address each of those elements in their own, dedicated articles.
More to come
The Apple A7 processor is shipping alongside the iPhone 5s on September 20, and we may just see it in more products come October. Until then, keep up with all the latest news, and get involved in all the best conversations:
- Apple A7 chipset brings 64-bit, twice the speed, OpenGL ES 3.0 gaming
- Apple M7 coprocessor does all the fitness, health, and motion heavy-lifting
- iSight camera combines an improved sensor with a smarter image processor to make everyone a better photographer
- Touch ID makes fingerprint authentication mainstream
Have something to say about this story? Leave a comment! Need help with something else? Ask in our forums!
Reader comments
Apple A7 64-bit chipset: Explained
How much faster will the 5S be with the new processor jumping from 32 to 64-bit without a bump up in the RAM dept? I am not tech wizard but to utilize that new processor I think that the iPhone 5S needs more RAM. I'm buying the 5S one way or the other but I'm hoping they didn't cheap out on the RAM. The iPhone 5 would slow down after you use the phone all day and have many apps still opened, that is due to not enough RAM. Give the phone the added HP it needs, give it some added RAM.
> A lot of guesses have been made, including licensing the newer ARMv8 architecture for the CPU..
That's confirmed by Apple itself on the mailing list here: http://lists.cs.uiuc.edu/pipermail/llvmdev/2013-September/065480.html
Physically, I think any case would technically fit the 5s, but you'll want to watch our for these 2 gotcha's; the home button and the LED on the back. If it's an open case in the front (doesn't obstruct the button) and has a wide enough opening for the LED it should be fine.
My case I think I'm ok with.
I don't think you'll be as lucky with a 5c, it's rounded and slightly thicker I believe.
Since Apple is saying the A7 GPU supports OpenGL ES 3.0, that should eliminate all PowerVR 5 series GPUs from the list of candidates for the GPU in the A7. The low clocked SGX 554MP4 in the A6X is 2x faster than the higher clocked SGX 543MP3 in the A6, and could have been a possibility, but 5-series GPUs aren't certified for OpenGL ES 3.0. So, it's either a conservative PowerVR 6x00 implementation or it's an Apple custom GPU.
As for ARM v8 and 64-bit, there definitely could be some instructions that will help with all the fancy dynamics and transitions in iOS 7, as well as making the device more secure. Cryptography should be faster. If there are ARM v8 exclusive SIMD instructions, those could speed up certain things, like image manipulations.
Also, Schiller says it has >1 billion transistors, twice as much as the A6, and implies the A6 has 500 million transistors. These statements have some ramifications. The A6 is ~100 mm^2 on Samsung's 32 nm fab. Schiller says or the chart said that the A7 is 102 mm^2. This is kind of mysterious as fabbing on a 28 nm node only gets you a 1-(28/32)^2 = 23% reduction (optically perfect) in die size, which enables only 50% more transistors or so, not 100% more. With 2x the transistors and the same die size as the A6, the A7 needs a 22 nm node or either Samsung's or TSMC's 28 nm is packing some pretty dense transistors. Also, with 1 billion transistors, it's packing a lot of cache. I mean a lot, like 8 MB or something, or there's a lot of something else there.
I'm not convinced that the media is confused about the benefits of 64-bit. The main benefit really is being able to address a larger memory space. There are also benefits in doing 64-bit arithmetic, although this can be done with 64-bit registers without making the entire chip 64-bit. Also, a lot of arithmetic is often done on the GPU (and I would guess that the A6 GPU was already 64-bit if not 128-bit). I don't understand the differences between the armv7 vs armv8 instruction sets, so there might be some 64-bit optimizations available in the instruction set.
As a software engineer, I really am curious as to what the real reason is for the 64-bit processor. Unlike other companies, Apple generally doesn't do something just to put a bullet on a slide, so I'm sure that there is a very good reason for the move. I wish I knew what it was.
The media is definitely confused and it is Apple's fault. The biggest benefits are not from 64-bit but from the optimized ARMv8 ISA with a huge increase in the hardware registers (the biggest benefit) and a unified address space that'd map the drive storage (16-64GB). There are so much hardware changes, that Apple just simplified it down to the move to 64-bit, rather than the simple fact that it is a 64-bit CPU.
It's not just some optimizations but ARMv8 ISA is completely overhauled based on the past decade worth of experience with ARMv7. ARM did say that they've simplified the ARMv8 ISA, made it more modern and included a lot of specialized registers for stuff like encryption and so on.
They simply don't care. Honestly. I don't care. I read the first three sentences of this, tried to skim, my eyes glazed over and i just can't read it. I don't care. This stuff isn't important to me. Its not a feature. Maybe later it allows another feature but call me when that happens. The average public simply isn't that interested in this tech minutia.
Yet you took the time to reply? Why?
Of course the 'general public' doesn't care. But WE do:-). We're geeks. We're hobbyists, developers, engineers and actually interested in the 'whys' of a jump to 64bit. Not sure why you took the time to reply yet didn't take the time to read past the first three sentences. To me...to MOST that frequent iMore, anandtech's site, Ars, iFixIt, etc...this is our passion and we ARE interested. To me, since the keynote....I've been blown away by the major misunderstanding of what 64bit architecture brings to the table & means to the consumer. It's hilarious to constantly hear 'but iPhones won't have 4GB of RAM until 2023! Why now?
Listen, read, learn....and understand our creator gave us two ears and one mouth...so we could 'listen' twice as much as we speak (or comment). While this SoC move is a major one...so is the proclaimed 10-15% in battery life. Something most general consumers CAN and DO understand. Apple hasn't 'lied' yet in their presentations of previous releases. I have no reason to suspect they're lying this time either. Moore's law is now rampant in the mobile sector....while the desk/laptop CPU world has slowed their clock speed increase and augmented the 'speed' with more cores. In mobile, most (if not all) software is programmed to single core....possibly dual core reference. Stacking quad and octo core procs in these devices....at this time, does nothing more than drain battery life quicker. It's amazing how the typical layman is blind to this 'innovation' from Apple. It's easy to add cores. It's hard to create from ground up your own CPU to be married to your own GPU to be married to your own OS...and the integration means a fluent experience to the end user. Some will call it a simplified, dumbed down OS/UI. Simplicity requires a LOT more work in the builder's end than complicated.
Lastly, with XCode and Apple's APIs...a developer need not worry when it comes time to build out their app to 64b from 32b. I/B3 in two hours? A near 2GB game? Amazing. I own both Android and Apple devices. We develop for both. It's absolutely nauseating to read comment after comment about Apple's inability to 'innovate'. Horse Shit. They're so far ahead of the rest of the mobile technology world it's hard to quantify. Licensing the ARM system as a piece of clay and building it into something this substantial is an absolute 'WIN!' As Charley Sheen would say in one of his drug fueled drunken stupors.
Thanks again Rene. Always appreciate you and the crew's insight. I'm absolutely sure the folks at Goog/Droid will have dozens in line launch day...to pick up, pick apart and 'learn' from what Apple has just built. What an incredible time to be a 'geek'!
Yeah man. Its just the processor that's really irking me. Yes i get that its 64 bit and it allows for more ram, along with other things, but what does that do for THIS phone? Can we add more ram to it when the iPhone 6 comes out (or would it be discontinued)? It's like a demo button on a toy that doesn't actually do what it demos. I really never rant but this one just draws the line. Introducing the new iPhone 5s with a new 64-bit processor which allows for 4 or more gigs of ram (small print only comes with 1 gig). THats all I'm saying. Yes this chip will be great in future devices......but they could have just said new a7 chip 2x faster than A6. 64 bit means nothing to the iPhone 5s.
I#teamandroid #teamapple #Teamtechnology
DON'T let it 'Irk' YOU!!! ;)
The ONLY way Apple could double the transistors---is by doubling the amount of current A6 (A7 transition) cores---dual to quad OR by increasing the clock speed AND an incredibly dense (33%+ increase of existing transistors to the A6--->A7 transition. Lastly---a possible third core? It's not the 'usual'---but it can be done, has been done and who knows what Apple has done. I don't want to ruin your experience if you decide to read the link I've provided...but it you don't, it seems the general consensus is still a dual core system....BUT, Early next week as Anand and iFIxit get their hands on it (and the SoC) under the Electron microscope---we'll have a MUCH better idea of what they did, how they did it and THEN we can speculation Why they did it!! But rest assured, this little son of a BeeyAtch is gonna FLAT Fly! Please (my apologizes to the iMore team...but I've seen you guys reference MacRumors in the past as well---if this reference isn't welcome, feel free to delete my response) check out macrumors.com, the iPhone forum...and the post from Dr Jenkins ('chrmjenkins') @ http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1634100 He's well educated (and experienced) with chip design and seems to have excellent 'outside' resources on fabrication processes as well as how the entire chip was thought out---built and the 'whys' of their reasoning to build it out now---instead of the misinterpreted idea that 64bit chips are only designed to address >4GB of RAM. It's an excellent read and there's a link in his OP that will take you to his earlier post on the subject when the 64bit idea was a 'rumor'. It's worth reading before the linked post if you have the time, otherwise, the linked post I think may answer some of the questions you have...and enlighten you to Apple's move. I know it did me.
What will really be interesting is how 64 bits is used in the iPad and potential new MacBook Air class devices. It may be that Apple didn't particularly need the 64 bits exactly right now for the 5S other than the chip was designed for greater efficiency, has the hardware for TouchID and was ready for production.
When the iPhone is released, go to Anandtech.com, they will analyze the chip and provide all the specifics you want. That was the website that really was able to figure out what the Swift core was all about via extensive low level testing. I think they were also in on finding out that Samsung was juicing the processor during benchmark testing. They are probably the best hardware site on the internet.
Apple does not chase meaningless specs just for the sake of specs. There isn't any money in that rat race, just ask any PC/smartphone manufacturer besides Samsung (their secret is brute force marketing).
That new A7 chip looks pretty impressive, far more power than what we need right now. Apple has something in mind that they haven't revealed yet, and I am excited to see what it is.
re: "The bigger news is that the Apple A7 is 64-bit, and the first 64-bit processor crafted for a consumer smartphone, and that it supports OpenGL ES 3.0, and comes with a companion chip, the M7 motion coprocessor."
Samsung claims they'll be releasing some kind of vanilla 64-bit ARM CPU at some time in the future for their iPhone clones. Yadda yadda. Samsung claims a lot of things.
What I'd really like to hear is the sound of breakable objects being smashed in the corner office of Intel Corp. immediately after Phil Schiller put up that "64-bit" Keynote slide. Back to the drawing board, Intel. Good luck trying to drag your legacy carcass into the 21st century.
Updated to reflect ARMv8 and PowerVR Series 6 (Rogue) architecture, which sounds almost certain at this point.
I actually found Apple's performance charts and messaging to be interesting. It seems they are trying to combat the fact that media/customers seem to be bored, unimpressed by things like twice the performance. It is a small number that actually conveys something huge.
They are trying to show that in one upgrade, they have equalled the performance gain of the last 5 years put together. People in technology for so long are so used to such impressive performance gains that they have become blasé.
Also, Apple is showing us that they are still in the zone where Moore's law is still closely linked to performance. They got about twice the performance for twice the transistors in about the same die size. Intel is past that a little bit, transistor density is still doubling every 18 months, but the latest generation of Intel chips were 15 to 30% faster than the previous generation.
some thing wrong, we have to say UP TO 2x speed via A6. Not just 2x speed. 64bit means, can calculate 32/32 integer with a register, it can reduce some bit-shift or memory moving. Due to 64bit register can hold the result, but, speed is not double. And, generate some over head to set/unset register. Generally, the efficiency is around 30% only, it is why they have increase the clock speed at same time. But, still, 2x means just a some peak speed with some specific condition.
Apple has been correct in the past on the '2x speed' bump. On every iteration and announcement they've made. Of course clock speed will be a factor. As will the ability to calculate within the SoC itself vs the push/pull to RAM access. If you look at past articles on anand's site...you'll see this fact holds water and not just in a specific benchmark. In fact, with the measurement tools used to bench these SoCs available....they've hit 2-7x CPU and GPU improvements across the board. On and off screen variables for tr GPU...speed and efficiency of the CPU and memory access. Even if they maintain 1GB of RAM, buy make the move from DDR 2 to 3--- again, another extremely welcome advancement without the additional RAM inevitable battery drain
First, in the past, apple has been archived as UP TO 2x, because of NOT ALL CODES ARE RUNNING 2X, what is the advantages when access the memory except the memory addressing space ? external memory bus is 32bit only now, and, 64bit means just the internal bus even it is 128bit and it is same as 32bit core also, thru SIMD, if they has double clock speed, they can 2x speed, some commands will be archived 2x, and some commands are not. 2~7x ? maybe they have used 4x cores ? maybe, if they have used 4x cores,
one more, from the latest some benchmark, they claim 2x graphic performance, but, actually, 30~60% of improvements are shows yet, maybe the software has optimized completely, maybe, can improve more, in this case, we say as UP TO 2X, Actually, ONLY APPLE say 2x or 3x or .... most of people do not say like that, they use UP TO, it is more honest explanation.
Despite the hyperventilation in the blogosphere, a 64 bit architecture does not mean much - yet. It will be slightly faster (not 2x, except in theoretical specs), and it's impact on battery life is still in question - some say it will be about the same, some say it will hurt. It is still a smart move now, because Apple is playing a long game.
As many have pointed out, the primary benefit is accessing additional memory. This is no big deal with current 1GB devices, and binaries are going to be a little fatter, and some may be a teeny but slower, while supporting 32 and 64 bit architectures. However, if Apple sticks to its current pace, we can expect 4GB of RAM in about two years. In two years, the 5S will be the free-but-ancient model, which means that by starting now Apple will have free rein, and developers will have had two years, to go all-in on 64 bit up and down the line, giving them a clean hardware and software break others will find tough to replicate.
Sent from the iMore App
This whole graphs thing is a complete charade. With each new release Apple says it's "up to" so much faster.
All they've done here is take all of those "up to"'s as gospel and worked out that it's now 40x faster than the original iPhone.
So, in effect it's "up to 40x faster", whatever that means.
It's marketing fluff. Complete tosh, and to present it as a feature, or news, is disingenuous, at best.


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What is the real value of Facebook's advertising business?
One thing is for sure: Wall Street has no idea. And neither do Facebook advertisers. And therein lies the huge unspoken caveat to Facebook's $86+ billion IPO.
Ten years ago Google changed the advertising industry forever by giving advertisers the ability to "pay per click" for key search terms and display their ads next to search results. Combined with products like Google Analytics, Google Adwords brought the then fuzzy calculus of advertising ROI into focus. With Google, advertisers not only knew how many people had clicked on an ad, they could also track that person back to their web site, watch them visit a product page, a pricing page and click the purchase button.
With Facebook, the fuzziness is back. Do you know the dollar value of a "like," "a commment," or "a share?" That's the $100 billion question.
According to a study by eMarketer, for 47 percent of people, there's no value in a like, while 41 percent said it meant they were somewhat more likely to purchase and 13 percent said it meant they were much more likely to purchase. These aren't numbers you can take to the bank, though you can't blame Facebook for trying.
"Advertising is not always easy to measure. Facebook does not have a monopoly on this fact," Michael Lazerow, CEO of Buddy Media states in a Fast Company article titled "The Truth About Facebook Advertising."
Lazerow's company helps "advertisers succeed on Facebook and other major social networks" and claims to have developed a way of measuring social KPIs, or key performance indicators. According to Lazerow, data from his clients show that "every share on Facebook generates an average of $2.10 in incremental sales."
Really? It's hard enough to get exact numbers on conventional key word campaigns that are aimed at driving the purchase of specific products, since other factors can contribute to a boost in sales. And Facebook shares aren't necessarily product focused. Indeed, because content on a company's Facebook page strives to be "engaging" it's often not about products at all. At best, shares of these posts help create a warm and fuzzy feeling about a company that, at some point in the future, might turn into a sale. (There's that word again.)
From this perspective, a Facebook share is more akin to a network ad. This doesn't mean it's useless, but no one is valuing Time Warner or Disney at 30 times their trailing revenue.Even Google, which gives advertisers exactly what they pay for, is only valued at 5.5 times trailing revenue.
The argument has been made that Google is a mature company, with slower growth—last year's revenues grew 29 percent, compared to 88 pecent for Facebook.
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It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas…. The air is redolent with the warm, comforting scent of spices, cinnamon and ginger, nutmeg and cloves. We count the days to Hanukkah, thrilled that Simon will be coming home for the holiday, yet this year we feel the urge for a little Christmas spirit as well. Maybe it is the icy whiteness outside the window giving the world a romantic glow. Maybe we just need a bit of festive cheer that only sparkly decorations and the scent of an evergreen can bring. I will dig out the shoebox overflowing with shimmering garlands and the few holiday decorations we have collected over the years, hand-painted shells, walnuts and tiny pinecones in gold to string gaily in and out among the green, several treasured gems the boys made when they were mere tots. I'll pull out the cookie cutters and bake batches of sweet, buttery treats, stars and menorahs, Santas and reindeer, all dancing happily together on the plate. I'll make my favorite Cookie Christmas Tree, piles of sizzling potato and cheese latkes to be eaten in the glow of the Hanukkah flames. "The more the merrier," the tiny elves shout with glee! Yes, our Hanukkah and Christmas can indeed mingle side by side in merriment and joy, seeing in the New Year in brilliance and splendor.
Smoky fumes kissed by a hint of pear and berries, I have never smelled anything quite as rich. Breath in deeply, the sharpness of alcohol stings the nose so unused to the complexity, the experience of cognac. How does one recount a truly remarkable experience, for a remarkable experience it truly was, from that astonishing e-mail that wended its way surreptitiously, almost furtively, into my inbox, hiding amongst all the others, to that nostalgic trip home, each one of us huddled in the corner of our own seat, quietly contemplating the almost 3 days spent together learning and laughing, already sad that we would be separating ways. Son couldn't contain his mirth at the idea of his old mom sipping cognac amidst the elegant wisps of cigar smoke, but yes, the invitation made it more than clear, I had been invited by Martell Cognac to discover the fabulous world of, yes indeed, cognac.
Now why, you ask, would son find it so amusing that I had been invited for total cognac immersion? I am normally averse, I must admit, to the taste of strong liqueur, yes indeed. One powerful, intoxicating whiff knocks me over and turns me off. An urgent "Taste it!" as the glass is nudged closer to my nose only makes me step back in distaste. How many years and lessons did it take for me to appreciate, nay actually fall in love with wine, the luscious, lovely grape? But I was utterly fascinated and extremely excited to have been invited, intrigued to discover this mysterious libation and as one who has come to love using rum, Grand Marnier, Amaretto, Limoncello and, yes, cognac in my baking, I couldn't help but be pleased to step into the train that would whisk me off to Paris.
An introductory dinner at Les Closerie des Lilas in Paris with the other food, wine and spirits and luxury bloggers, Katja and her bevy of lovelies from Balistik*Art and a group from Martell Cognac began my journey of discovery. From the welcome cocktail to the last sip of Cognac at the close of a wonderful meal already had me hooked and yearning for more. After a delicious night's sleep, we were up at the veritable crack of dawn, begging the hotel staff for coffee and just a nibble of croissant (which they happily obliged), finally to be taken to the train and off to Cognac.
A stroll through the vineyards, a walk through the distillery and we were sipping our first glasses of Cognac. Glasses. In the plural. For, yes, we would spend 48 hours sipping, tasting, rolling the amber gold liquid around in our mouths, feeling the heat spread through our bodies, bathe our beings in warmth, our cheeks taking on a rosy glow as the giggles bubble up, our group, strangers a mere few hours before, now feeling connected by a lively, generous bonhomie. No longer shy – is it now the Cognac speaking? – we ask questions, snap photos, chatter among ourselves. With utter fascination I listen, am walked through the long, laborious, delicate process of creating an excellent Cognac, listen as our resident Cognac expert Jeremy Oakes, who accompanied us throughout the weekend (or so I call it), walked us through the many stages of production and passionately discoursed on the magical process of distillation.
Stepping back in time, walking through the tiny, sparse home of the brand's founder, Jean Martell, through the dim, chilly corridors and cellars where kegs and demijohns of eaux de vie are stacked, soberly, patiently awaiting for the day, the year, the decade when they will be blended, married, with other eaux de vie to create the perfect, silky smooth balance offering a complexity of aromas and flavors, fruity, woody, spicy, floral with a touch of vanilla or hazelnut, to watching the oak kegs being made, one by one, each by hand, the process only barely changed since when kegs were first used, simply inspired me. The process brought me closer to the finished product and instilled an understanding and an appreciation for the artisan quality, the pride, the skill and the creativity that goes into making this venerable libation, into keeping Martell Cognac alive.
Elegance, Complexity, Balance. We heard these three words over and over again and as the three days glided gently, merrily by, I came to see what this meant. Two days of being pampered at the Château de Chanteloup, of dining on delicacies prepared from local ingredients and paired time and time again with a carefully selected Cognac for each dish, being walked through each delicate sniff, each heady breathe, guided through every sip, swirl, swallow of Martell, and little by little a revelation. As the Christmas season peeks its head around the corner, as the lights pop on one by one throughout French cities and villages everywhere, wooing us with the brightness and glitter, the romance of cognac adds to the spirit, promising festivities and luring us into her warm embrace. Gingerbread aromas of cinnamon and ginger with the lingering hint of vanilla; the tang and freshness of winter citrus, oranges spiked with cloves to scent the festive celebrations; or a glass of smoky smoothness, the elegance of curling one's hand around a globe of liquid gold snuggled up in front of a roaring blaze, haunted by the dark moodiness of plums, damson and black currents or kissed by the romance of chocolate; the whiff of pear tatin as we stood out in the cold mist surrounded by the inky night up there on the Belvedere, the wind snatching at our words as we huddled together to taste the first bottles of Chanteloup Perspective. Sexy bottles held reverently in the hands like a special gift, the sensual curves, the gilded trim, we each had our preference, from the very feminine Noblige, soft, voluptuous, gently sweet touched by the exotic, well structured and light. Or the more lively and very masculine Cordon Bleu, orchard scents of plum and apple surprisingly, harmoniously mingling with coffee and grilled almonds yet touched by the wonder of citrus and floral, the perfect pairing with seafood or veal. The spiciness of XO – Extra Old - in its stunning arched decanter and sophisticated almost jewel-like silver cork, offering that magical blend of cinnamon and candied and dried fruits, peppery, earthy, strong yet silky, sipped while dining on fish.
Yes, Jeremy brought us into the sacred domain of the true taster where we enjoyed an official dégustation and then carried us down into Paradise, the tiny magical room, dark and slightly dank, where demijohns of the oldest eaux de vie are stored – one of the world's largest collections - for a special tasting of L'Or de Jean Martell, the pride of the House of Martell. We experienced the nose and the second nose, the orange blossom and lemon zest, the cassis, vanilla and gingerbread chased by a nutty earthiness of a Very Superior Old Pale. We listened to the tale of how Romans planted the first vines in this region in the Fourth Century and created the earliest of cognac-type brandies, a drink forbidden to the French. How it traveled thanks to the French and then the Dutch, finally to be brought back to Cognac by Jean Martell in 1715 where he founded his house. Snapping photos, sipping cognac then wandering back to the Château for a private pastry class by Chefs Danger and Pienkowski – more on this and the food part of the trip will be shared in my next post – before our last jubilant meal followed by a glass or two of Champagne surrounded by laughter and smoke and then an all-night karaoke session, packed into a tiny room, singing our hearts out (and only one among us opted out, sneaking quietly off to bed, and he knows who he is.).
Do I ramble on too long and evangelize too loudly; do I give off the aura of one who now adores, worships the great god cognac? I find it difficult to expound on this wonderful trip and the wonders of my newfound passion for cognac without sounding like a brochure or a marketing tool at the hands of a great company. Yet, I must admit, although wary of their expectations before I left, as I accepted the trip, as I then sat in front of a clean white paper deciding on how to tell the story, for it is always a story for me, I couldn't help but acknowledge that I was totally swept away, left completely enthralled with not only cognac and the region (which my husband has always loved) but with all of the people who managed and oversaw our three days, who took care of us, pampered us; I was captivated by their passion and their exuberance, how they were like one large, happy family who welcomed us into their fold.
A warm and heartfelt thank you to the kind folks at Martell Cognac and to my fellow travelers
Ren Behan of Fabulicious Food
Douglas Blyde of Intoxicating ProseBrad Lau of Lady Iron Chef
Helene Le Blanc of The Luxe Chronicles
David Lebovitz of David Lebovitz
Qing Lin of Neeu
Max of Cognac Expert
Please be patient, the food and fun will soon continue on Cognac Part II
N.B. Round trip travel from Nantes to Cognac via Paris, all hotel accommodations and meals were courtesy of Martell. No further gift (except a wee bottle of cognac) and/or remuneration has been solicited or offered. The decision to write about the trip was my own decision and all views and opinions are my own.
For a truly stupendous, stunning holiday dessert using Cognac, try my Holiday Chestnut Cake with Chocolate Chestnut Cognac Cream Filling and Chocolate Buttercream Frosting!
For this month's Mactweets challenge: Seasons & Holidays Macarons, I used my favorite macaron recipe and spiced it up for the holidays, bringing to the French macaron the lovely flavor of Pain d'Épice – gingerbread. For a festive filling, I made a ganache using an orange-spiked dark chocolate and blended about 2 tablespoons prepared vanilla-scented sweetened chestnut cream and 2 tablespoons Noblige Cognac by Martell into the cooled and thickened ganache. They were beautiful! Like a fine cognac, the marriage of each Christmassy flavor blended together in perfect harmony, yet allowed for each individual flavor to stand out, passing over the tongue one by one. Just splendid!
7 oz (200 g) powdered/icing sugar
4 oz (112 oz) finely ground almonds
3 large eggs whites (about 3.5 oz / 100 g)
1.2 oz (35 g) granulated white sugar
1 tsp ground pain d'épice or gingerbread spices
1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
Blend the cocoa powder and spices together with the sifted powdered/icing sugar and ground almonds. Whip the granulated sugar in with the aged egg whites and carry on from there! I baked these at 145°C in my never-ending quest for the perfect oven temperature for my own oven.
For the Chocolate Chestnut Ganache:
4.2 oz (120 g) good quality dark chocolate (I used Lindt 70% cocoa Orange-Chocolate)
½ cup (125 ml) heavy whipping cream
2 Tbs sweetened Crème de Marrons (canned sweetened Chestnut Cream)
2 Tbs Martell Cognac of your choice (I used Noblige)
To prepare the GINGERBREAD MACARONS follow the directions here.
For the Chocolate Ganache, simply chop the chocolate and place in a medium heatproof bowl. Heat the cream over low heat until it comes just to the boil then pour over the chopped chocolate. Stir until the combined and smooth and the chocolate is completely melted. Allow to cook and thicken, placing in the refrigerator to hurry the process. When the ganache is cooled and very thick, fold or stir in the chestnut cream and the cognac. Refrigerate again to firm up.


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Public Leadership Education Network
1001 Connecticut Ave. NW #930, Washington, DC, 20036
Phone: (202) 872-1585 | Fax: (202) 872-0141
Website: www.plen.org
Principal Staff:
Dawn Culpepper, Program Director
Marianne Alexander, President Emerita
Margaret Darling, Research and Evaluation Specialist.
Type of Organization: National Policy/Research/Education
Founded: 1978
Mission Statement:
PLEN is the only national organization in the country whose sole mission is to prepare women for leadership in the public arena. PLEN´s programs have inspired a generation of women college students to actively participate in politics and public policy.
Subject Expertise:
Women´s leadership and civic engagement
Annual Meetings/Conferences:
PLEN´s six annual public policy programs, which are designed to prepare young women to be active participants in the public decision-making process include: Women, Law and Public Policy Conference, Women and Public Policy Seminar, Women and Science/Technology Policy Seminar, Women and Congress Seminar, Women and International Policy Seminar and Women and Public Policy Internship Semester
Annual Mentor Awards Celebration honoring outstanding women leaders who have served as mentors and role models to students in PLEN programs.


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Not much to comment other than Apple making the right engineering choice here. They had a price point to meet, and the iPhone 4's 960x640 IPS LED technology fortunately made it inside the box. The Retina Display's better energy consumption, pixel density/sharpness, 24-bit color and brightness won the day. I think they'll stick with this for iPhone 5 too.
If LG and Samsung can produce "super" OLED screens with RGB sub-pixels instead of the Pentile arrangement, and solve some of the other issues with OLED technology, maybe Apple will switch toe OLED in 2012.
iPhone 4 Retina Display ekes out victory over Android Super AMOLED
Apple's iPhone 4 IPS LCD Retina Display has pulled out a big win over Super AMOLED displays used in Samsung Galaxy S and other Android devices for best mobile display in existence today. This comes to us from DisplayMate.com.
blockquote>"Since its introduction the iPhone has been one of the wonders of the modern tech world for many reasons – but its display was never one of them – up until the iPhone 4, where it finally got the display it deserved. The iPhone 4 display, nicknamed the Retina Display, is an outstanding "Super" LCD delivering top performance in many of our test categories – it has the brightest and sharpest display, but on the other hand its color gamut is too small, producing under saturated somewhat washed-out colors, and its image contrast is too high, which produces punchier images and also partially compensates for its smaller color gamut. These were most likely intentional tradeoffs made by Apple to increase screen brightness, power efficiency and battery run time. None-the-less the iPhone 4 earned our Best Mobile Display Award in the DisplayMate Best Video Hardware Guide. We include a dedicated comparison with the iPhone 3GS below. "Retina Display" is a great marketing name, and it is the sharpest smartphone display available, but quantitatively it is a factor of two lower than the acuity of the human Retina. Click here for a discussion on the Retina Display. Finally, Part II of this series will discuss some major flaws in the iPhone 4's Automatic Brightness control, which hopefully will be corrected in the near future through a software update."
For the full in depth analysis and test results be sure to hit up the link below and make sure you have quite a bit of free to time as you will need it.
[DisplayMate via Daring Fireball]
Have something to say about this story? Leave a comment! Need help with something else? Ask in our forums!
Reader comments
iPhone 4 Retina Display ekes out victory over Android Super AMOLED
Not much to comment other than Apple making the right engineering choice here. They had a price point to meet, and the iPhone 4's 960x640 IPS LED technology fortunately made it inside the box. The Retina Display's better energy consumption, pixel density/sharpness, 24-bit color and brightness won the day. I think they'll stick with this for iPhone 5 too.
Absolutely the best display out there currently - and I just came from the Samsung Captivate (which has an amazing screen by the way, if you can look past the blue hue). Anyway, I also have wondered why the auto-brightness doesn't seem to always work as intended, especially when outdoors.
I'll take whatever screen allows me better battery life.
Retina display is awesome. Coming from previous iPhones. This is the way to go.
Just got my iPhone 4 and the new display is truly amazing. I can't understand how some people dismissed it as having no real noticeable improvement when in fact the difference is really obvious. And I find it really funny how some ditched it's "Retina Display" moniker as something arrogant when the competitor blatantly uses the word "Super".
@Webvex: You clearly have not seen the SAMOLED out side. I use the auto brightness and within seconds the screen is bright and clear. Better than any LCD it has been put up against. Look it up on youtube.
iPhone 4's display is very nice and deserves recognition but get over yourselves. Stop misinforming people. geesh. :-P
The S Amoled screen is much better looking then the iphone 4! Movies, videos, photos, and games all look better then the iphone 4 but as always studies will find some way to favor the iphone
Amazing posting, really appreciate the time you may possibly have taken to produce it.


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Tuscarawas News Detail
KSU New Music Series Concert Feb. 16 in Ludwig Recital HallPosted Jan. 29, 2013
The third concert of the 2012-2013 Kent State University New Music Series will take place Saturday, Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. in Ludwig Recital Hall. Admission to the event is free.
The program will consist entirely of music by living composers. The concert will feature performances by members of the Kent State University New Music Ensemble, directed by assistant professor of music Anthony Donofrio and professor of music Frank Wiley. Bill Sallak, assistant professor of dance, will be a guest artist.
The ensemble will include the following graduate and undergraduate student performers: oboists Patricia Rolland and Toshiyasu Fujita, bassoonist Adam Farmer, saxophonist Alex Sellers, hornist Nicholas Sohutskay, tubist Josh Davis, percussionists Alec Schumann and Drew Adametz, pianists Max Loutzenheiser and Andrew Keller, violists Pamela Burovac and Haojian Wang and bassist Ryan Critchfield.
The ensemble members will perform select solo pieces, including Brian Penkrot's Narcissus Chamber for oboe and viola, Robert Ashley's In Memoriam Esteban Gomez and Gernot Wolfgang's Low Agenda. The program will close with a performance by the full New Music Ensemble of Les Moutons de Panurge by Frederic Rzewski.
This event is free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.kent.edu/music or call 330-672-2172.
For more information contact:
Effie Tsengas, email@example.com, 330-672-8398


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Martha Sparks
Civitas News Service
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On the heels of hearing gripping accounts last week in Beckley from retired coal miners who were promised lifetime pension and health care benefits for themselves and their families, Senator Jay Rockefeller today introduced legislation that would protect those benefits for thousands of retired miners whose livelihoods are in jeopardy. Senator Joe Manchin cosponsored the bill.
The Coalfield Accountability and Retired Employee Act seeks to provide certainty and peace of mind to retirees and their families while holding employers accountable for the commitments they make to their workers. The bill builds on and strengthens similar legislation Rockefeller and U.S. Rep Nick Rahall introduced last Congress. The new measure comes soon after a roundtable discussion Rockefeller held in Beckley with retired coal miners in which he re-affirmed his commitment to preserving their promised benefits. Rahall and United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) President Cecil Roberts also joined the discussion. Rahall today introduced companion legislation in the House, just as he did last Congress.
"Last month, I heard stories that absolutely broke my heart," Rockefeller said. "One woman—Shirley Inman, who lives in Boone County—left a good-paying job in Chicago to come home to West Virginia to work in the mines. She did it because of the pension and health care benefits she was promised. And now, after years of on-the-job injuries and a bout with cancer, that promise was broken. That's more than unfair. It's shameful. And I won't stand for it."
"A strong mining industry begins with a strong commitment to our miners," Senator Manchin said. "Our coal miners are some of the hardest working people in America, and they are proud to do the heavy lifting that keeps this country strong. They are the backbone behinds decades of lighting our cities and heating our homes, and deserve nothing less than the best possible benefits and care. This bill makes sure our brave coal miners receive the benefits they've been promised."
Some retirees are facing uncertainty because the UMWA's 1974 pension plan is severely underfunded and on the road to insolvency because of the 2008 financial crisis. The 1974 plan covers more than 100,000 mineworkers, including more than 35,000 West Virginians. If the plan becomes insolvent, retirees could see reductions in their monthly pension checks.
In addition, Patriot Coal, which was spun-off from Peabody Energy and Arch Coal, has filed for bankruptcy and could shed its obligations to retirees. This means more than 12,000 retired miners and dependants, including nearly 7,000 West Virginians – the vast majority of whom actually worked for Peabody and Arch –would lose health benefits, and the 1974 pension plan would be further destabilized.
The Coalfield Accountability and Retired Employee Act would:
• Amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act to transfer funds in excess of the amounts needed to meet existing obligations under the Abandoned Mine Land fund to the UMWA 1974 Pension Plan to prevent its insolvency.
• Make Patriot's union retirees and other union retirees who lose health care benefits following the bankruptcy or insolvency of his or her employer eligible for the 1992 Benefit Plan, which was established under the Coal Act of 1992 to provide health benefits to retired or disabled miners and their families. Companies that originally promised these benefits would be held accountable for the costs and, if needed, additional funding from the Abandoned Mine Land fund would be available.
• Provide that employer contributions under the UMWA Retiree Bonus Trust are not unfairly penalized by the tax code and receive the same tax-exempt treatment as contributions to other pension plans, allowing the full value of employer cash contributions to go to the retirees who earned them. This Retiree Bonus Trust provides modest supplemental pension payments to retired miners.
Rockefeller's efforts through the Coalfield Accountability and Retired Employee Act build upon a longstanding record of steadfastly pursuing fairness for miners and their loved ones. He engineered passage of the 1992 Coal Act, which preserved health benefits for more than 100,000 retired miners and their widows who had been promised these benefits by both the federal government and their companies, after several companies unfairly stopped providing these benefits. Rockefeller again fought in 2006 to protect the UMWA health care plans by providing them with Abandoned Mine Land funds.
"I was so incredibly motivated by the retirees I heard from in Beckley and so many others who have reached out to me," Rockefeller said. "Our coal miners work their entire lives, at risk of life and limb, to provide for their families and fuel our nation. We owe them nothing less than to make sure the pledge of lifetime benefits is preserved. It's so simple: make a promise, keep your promise. That's what I'm fighting for."


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Color Drip Taper Candles, Set of 2 4 4
I love this candle, its so cool. The only suggestion it to make sure you have a bottle that is skinny enough. I felt like I wasted part of mine the first time beccause i used a bottle that was too wide April 21, 2012
WOW I got mine at the store for 2.99. Surprised to see them for so much on website. November 23, 2011
SSSSOOOO NEAT!! I always burn long candles on a wine bottle during warm months when outside. These candles are too neat- and are enjoyable. The only think I do not like is that they burn too quickly. I also bought these in the store and they were only [$]... I would not have paid the 7 something online for them. May 4, 2011
Okay, but not great I liked the fact that these candles had different colors within one candle, they just seem to run 'thin'. I'm not sure how many set's I'll have to buy in order to have a nice presence on my chianti bottle. April 24, 2013
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Lowering Greenhouse Gas Emissions Yields Additional Benefits Worth Billions
Carbonfund.org supports carbon offset projects that clearly benefit the environment and fight climate change. A recent study highlights how projects such as ours offer even more than combating global warming alone. They can provide additional benefits ranging from employment to health, which is important to countries' economies and limited budgets.
Often the question is posed as whether to cut emissions or use the funds to stimulate the economy. But we can have the best of both worlds with certified carbon-cutting projects; particularly projects in poor countries. And the numbers add up to billions in additional benefits.
Carbon credit certifier, the Gold Standard Foundation, in a partnership with WWF Switzerland commissioned a peer-reviewed study from Australia-based Net Balance. Economists analyzed the environmental and socioeconomic benefits from clean energy or Gold Standard-approved carbon reduction projects.
The report found, "Robustly designed and audited greenhouse gas mitigation projects... deliver far more than carbon emission reductions, meaning it is no longer necessary to choose between climate and other environment and development outcomes."
The study analyzed more than 100 initiatives including building wind farms, planting trees, installing water filtration systems and distributing clean stoves to discourage people from burning wood or charcoal. Then the report identified areas beyond greenhouse gas cuts where there was a potential benefit from projects, such as local economies, employment, health and biodiversity.
The report gives a couple examples; the first shows how three water filtration systems throughout Africa and Asia deliver health benefits such as less air pollution, which is valued at more than $300 million annually. The second example illustrates how 54 Gold Standard-certified wind farms created jobs worth $12 million a year while contributing a total $100 million per year to countries' balance of payments.
Gold Standard Program projects generate carbon credits that can be bought by individuals, businesses and organizations to offset their own carbon footprints. Learn more about Carbonfund.org's carbon reduction projects at http://www.carbonfund.org/projects.
National Climate Assessment Finds Warming Could Surpass 10 Degrees
The National Climate Assessment was released this week, which summarizes climate change's impacts on the United States, now and in the future. Produced by a team of more than 300 experts and guided by a 60-member Federal Advisory Committee, the study was also extensively reviewed by the public, federal agencies and a panel of the National Academy of Sciences.
The report finds that if greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase, global warming could exceed 10 degrees by the end of the century. A quote from the study's overview says, "This National Climate Assessment concludes that the evidence of human-induced climate change continues to strengthen and that impacts are increasing across the country."
This scientific report is mandated by Congress and is the pinnacle of years of work by hundreds of the nation's leading climate experts. They reviewed the scientific literature and summarized how climate change is affecting our country. The two main conclusions are:
The planet's climate is changing; it is apparent across the U.S. and the last 50 years' worth is chiefly due to human activities, particularly the burning of fossil fuels.
Extreme weather is on the rise in recent decades and new, stronger evidence confirms that some of these increases are human-caused.
Our homes, food, water and the very air we breathe are being affected.
Global warming is more than something that our children and future generations will face. It is our reality now. Climate change is already affecting our country and economy. Now that the situation is hitting home, perhaps we will start to make the changes we must make to reduce our carbon footprints and fund clean energy projects.
Read the most recent National Climate Assessment's Overview here.
Toto Tours Joins Carbonfree® Partnership Program to Expand 2014 Environmental Responsibility
Two of the key benefits of the Carbonfree® Partnership Program are its affordability for businesses of all sizes and its applicability to businesses of all industries. Despite best efforts, no business can identify and neutralize all of its operational emissions without the help of carbon offsets.
Veteran travel tours operator Toto Tours recognized this reality and took an important step towards improved sustainability by joining the Carbonfree® Partnership Program for 2014. Through their annual program donation, Toto Tours is supporting carbon reduction and clean energy projects around the world, while neutralizing a portion of their operational emissions.
Toto Tours provides worldwide adventure travel opportunities for the gay and lesbian community. Founded in 1990, Toto Tours hosts small groups of 10 – 20 participants to exciting global destinations. Their tour offerings change from year to year, and their customer tour satisfaction has yielded a repeat rate of 70% or higher on almost every tour.
The activity of travel and touring includes the unavoidable carbon emissions associated with airline flights, ground travel, hotel stays and dining, not to mention regular business operations like office space energy usage, IT services and mailings, and business travel.
"Toto Tours is pleased to partner with Carbonfund.org to offset the emissions generated as a result of our travel program business," expressed Daniel Ware, President of Toto Tours. "We appreciate the tools you provide on your website to help our clients make environmentally conscious decisions regarding ways to offset their travel footprint. The carbon reduction projects you support are excellent!"
Airplane travel is one of the contributors to Toto Tours' carbon emissions, so tour participants are encouraged to be aware of and actively participate in flight emissions offsetting for every tour.
Toto Tours also is committed to giving back to the communities they visit during travels around the world. Toto Tours staff have visited schools and made donations to charitable causes in Nicaragua, Bhutan, Honduras, and Kenya. These included the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, where Toto Tours contributed to the elephant orphanage in Nairobi, a Masaai village in the Masaai Mara, and a giraffe sanctuary in the outskirts of Nairobi.
There were two special causes in Kenya that especially moved the staff of Toto Tours. The first is "The Brethren Concern," a group dedicated to serving homosexual men in Nairobi, and the second cause is a the Matanya Primary School, a remote school where 250 children depend for their early education and even their basic necessities on the generosity of those who happen to visit. Toto Tours will continue to support both of these causes into the indefinite future, and will continue to pursue ways to improve tour sustainability in partnership with Carbonfund.org.


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Rating: 4.70
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Name: #U33813
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text: Aldo has looked very underwhelming in a couple of his more recent fights, Zombie and Hominick. Barao has been in complete control of every UFC fight. Also what's with MMA sites and their shitty article names. Dana didn't say he Barao is P4P champ if he beats Faber. He said he is P4P champ is he finishes him. It's a big difference, especially since Aldo didn't finish Faber.


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"A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within.", Will Durant
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.", Edmund Burke
This is the exact reason why I never chose a life of crime....I would be that guy! Murphy loves me!
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In my younger days my boss would have said why didn't you shoot the bastard when the coffee jug broke. Of course no one worried about liability laws then.
"The two enemies of the people are criminals and goverment, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so that the second will not become the legal version of the first" ~ Thomas Jefferson


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Year of publication
- 2009 (2) (remove)
- Haushalt (2)
- Household Finance (2)
- Multivariate Probit (2)
- Simulated Maximum Likelihood (2)
- Stockholding (2)
- Aktienanlage (1)
- Asset Location (1)
- Direktinvestition (1)
- Foreign Assets (1)
- Stockholding: from participation to location and to participation spillovers (2009)
- This paper provides a joint analysis of household stockholding participation, stock location among stockholding modes, and participation spillovers, using data from the US Survey of Consumer Finances. Our multivariate choice model matches observed participation rates, conditional and unconditional, and asset location patterns. Financial education and sophistication strongly affect direct stockholding and mutual fund participation, while social interactions affect stockholding through retirement accounts only. Household characteristics influence stockholding through retirement accounts conditional on owning retirement accounts, unlike what happens with stockholding through mutual funds. Although stockholding is more common among retirement account owners, this fact is mainly due to their characteristics that led them to buy retirement accounts in the first place rather than to any informational advantages gained through retirement account ownership itself. Finally, our results suggest that, taking stockholding as given, stock location is not arbitrary but crucially depends on investor characteristics. JEL Classification: G11, E21, D14, C35
- Investing at home and abroad: different costs, different people? (2009)
- We investigate US households' direct investment in stocks, bonds and liquid accounts and their foreign counterparts, in order to identify the different participation hurdles affecting asset investment domestically and overseas. To this end, we estimate a trivariate probit model with three further selection equations that allows correlations among unobservables of all possible asset choices. Our results point to the existence of a second hurdle that stock owners need to overcome in order to invest in foreign stocks. Among stockholders, we show that economic resources, willingness to assume greater financial risks, shopping around for the best investment opportunities all increase the probability to invest in foreign stocks. Furthermore, we find that households who seek financial advice from relatives, friends and work contacts are less likely to invest in foreign stocks. This result corroborates the conjecture by Hong et al. (2004) that social interactions should discourage investment in foreign stocks, given their limited popularity. On the other hand, we find little evidence for additional pecuniary or informational costs associated with investment in foreign bonds and liquid accounts. Finally, we show that ignoring correlations of unobservables across different asset choices can lead to very misleading results.


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Stop the Unfair Ads on YouTube Kids
If we don't act now, Google could singlehandedly demolish long-standing rules that protect children from harmful commercialism. In February, Google launched the YouTube Kids app for preschoolers, a supposedly child-friendly version of its popular online video service. But YouTube Kids is no safe haven. Instead, it's what noted media scholar Dale Kunkel calls, "the most hyper-commercialized media environment for children I have ever seen." Research shows that young children have trouble...
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Stop Mattel's "Hello Barbie" Eavesdropping Doll
At February's Toy Fair 2015 in New York City, Mattel unveiled "Hello Barbie," the Wi-Fi-connected doll that uses an embedded microphone to record children's voices—and other nearby conversations. But when Mattel releases the $74.99 toy in late fall, things will get seriously creepy. "Hello Barbie" transmits the recordings over the Internet to cloud servers. Mattel's technology partner ToyTalk processes the audio with voice-recognition software.[1] Mattel says it will use this information to "...
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School Bus Ad Action Center 2015
The commercialization of our schools could get a lot worse this year.Currently, only Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Tennessee, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Utah, Nevada, and New Mexico allow advertising on the exterior of school buses. But more states are considering overturning their long-standing prohibitions on school bus ads in a misguided attempt to solve their budget deficits. The financial plight of schools is extremely worrisome, but turning school buses into traveling billboards for...
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This Clown Doesn't Belong in Schools
At the McDonald's 2014 Annual Shareholders Meeting, CEO Don Thompson was questioned by Sally Kuzemchak, a concerned nutritionist and parent, about the company's notorious targeting of children. Thompson tried to reassure Kuzemchak. "Relative to our marketing, we have been marketing responsibly," he told her. And then he dropped a bombshell, "We don't put Ronald out in schools." It was a remarkable statement from the CEO of the world's biggest purveyor of fast food. Not only was Thompson...
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Tell the Girl Scouts: Don't Partner with Barbie
Update: As if encouraging girls to wear a branded Barbie patch on their uniforms isn't bad enough, now Mattel and Girl Scouts USA have escalated their $2 million co-branding partnership by introducing a Barbie Girl Scout Doll—pink capris, high heeled hiking boots and all. For generations, the Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) has been a powerful force for good in the in the lives of girls. Parents trust the Girl Scouts to provide positive role models and foster their daughters' healthy development...
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As if urging parents to use television or tablets with babies isn't bad enough, AT&T has partnered with BabyFirst to introduce the first-ever "second screen" experience for infants and toddlers. The new BabyFirstTV U-verse app encourages babies to use an iPad while watching TV. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no screen time for children under two. When there's no evidence that even one screen benefits babies, marketing a second one is unconscionable.
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This multi-purpose creamy cleanser was designed to gently cleanse while addressing the issues of dull complexion, aging, discolored and sensitive skin. Formulated with all-natural fruit acids along with vitamins and botanicals for true complexion transformation. A special blend of natural renewal agents along with anti-inflammatory botanicals deep clean while imparting a super healthy glow on even the most sensitive skin types. * Soap free formula * Multi-action cleanser doubles as a refining antioxidant masque * Used twice weekly as a masque refines skin texture, encourages renewal Sevani Secret: Leave on skin for 10 minutes while in the shower. The steam and ingredients combine to enhance results! Super Sensitive? While many AHA products are overly sensitizing, this particular blend of actives along with anti-inflammatory agents in a soothing creamy base provide the ideal solution to drying, harsh cleansers for this delicate skin condition.


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Gift Boxes Bring the Promise of Springtime
- Delightfully decorated gift boxes hold flower seed tapes
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- Choice of Butterfly Garden or Hummingbird Garden
Each delightfully decorated gift box holds easy-to-plant flower seed tapes for attracting butterflies or hummingbirds. Perfect stocking stuffers and hostess gifts, cheery BloemBoxes™ are guaranteed to bring a smile. 3-1/2" diameter box contains three 5' seed tapes.
- Cardboard box decorated with faux flowers, hummingbird or butterfly and satin ribbon; seed tapes
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- Butterfly Bloembox contains zinnia, phlox and cosmos seed tapes
- Hummingbird Bloembox contains phlox, lemon mint and scarlet sage seed tapes
REVIEW SNAPSHOT®by PowerReviews
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The box can be saved and used for all sorts of treasures. It is beautiful. My friends will love the seeds for the butterflies.
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- Yes
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My mom planted these and said they were simple. She lives in NY so of course they are not sprouting yet, but they should soon! She loved this gift and the little box that the seeds came, too! adorable!
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- As A Spirit Lifter
I used this product to lift the spirits of a loved family member and it worked even better than I anticipated. It brought a ray of sunshine and hope to the receiver, and also let them know how much I care. There isn't anything at all wrong with this product. It is perfect in every way.
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An ideal little "happy" gift for those who love the bloom! Covers activity, the blooms and keepsake component of gift giving. Something easy to plant. Hopefully resulting in beautiful blooms to enjoy. Presented in a nicely crafted gift box that can be reused or kept as keepsake.
- Was this a gift?:
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- A Stunning Box
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- Son loved it
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I gave this to my son-in-law for Christmas and he just adored the box.He is an Iraq war veteran and so I was a little surprised. He almost did not care what was inside although he definitely will plant as he is a gardener. I was very pleased...beauty containing beauty!1
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Danica Patrick wins pole for NASCAR's Daytona 500By MARK LONG
The Associated Press | February 18,2013AP Photo
Danica Patrick displays the flag after winning the pole during qualifying for NASCARs Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway Sunday in Daytona Beach, Fla. Patrick became the first woman to secure the top spot for any Sprint Cup race.DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. Danica Patrick has won the Daytona 500 pole, becoming the first woman to secure the top spot for any Sprint Cup race.
It was the biggest achievement of her four-year NASCAR career.
Patrick went out eighth in the qualifying session Sunday and covered the 2½-mile superspeedway in 45.817 seconds, averaging 196.434 mph.
Hopefully, there are good things to come, Patrick said.
She waited about two hours as 37 fellow drivers tried to take her spot. Only four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon even came close to knocking her off.
Gordon was the only other driver who topped 196 mph. He locked up the other guaranteed spot in next weeks season-opening Daytona 500.
Its great to be part of history, Gordon said. I can say I was the fastest guy today.
The rest of the field will be set in duel qualifying races Thursday.
However the lineup unfolds, all drivers will line up behind Patricks No. 10 Chevrolet SS for The Great American Race.
We say its not really us, but shes got to do her part, too, team owner and fellow driver Tony Stewart said. She did a really good job. Im proud of all of us.
Patrick has been the talk of Speedweeks. Not only did she open up about her budding romance with fellow Sprint Cup rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr., but she was considered the front-runner for the pole after turning the fastest laps in practice Saturday.
And she didnt disappoint.
She kept her car at or near the bottom of the famed track and gained ground on the straightaways, showing lots of power from a Hendrick Motorsports engine.
The result surely felt good, especially considering the former IndyCar driver has mostly struggled in three NASCAR seasons. Her best finish in 10 Cup races is 17th, and she has one top-five in 58 starts in the second-tier Nationwide Series.
She raced part-time in 2010 and 2011 while still driving a full IndyCar slate. She switched solely to stock cars last season and finished 10th in the Nationwide standings.
She made the jump to Sprint Cup this season and will battle Stenhouse for Rookie of the Year honors.
But taking the pole will make her the talk of the town for another week. She also won the pole at Daytona for last years Nationwide race.
This is considerably bigger.
The previous highest female qualifier in a Cup race was Janet Guthrie. She started ninth at Bristol and Talladega in 1977.
Thats a really big deal because qualifying for the Daytona 500 is really interesting thing, Patrick said. If youre anywhere but the front row, its really hard to see on race day. This just speaks volumes of Stewart-Haas Racing. It just shows what a great organization it is.MORE IN Wire SportsFLORHAM PARK, N.J. Calvin Pace cant stand training camp. Full StoryBOSTON James Loney knows it always feels better having a lucky hit at the right time. Full StoryRIO DE JANEIRO Its not a good idea to give Ronda Rousey some extra motivation. Full Story
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- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: On this day 1739, 'Richard Palmer' identified in prison at York Castle as the notorious outlaw DICK TURPIN; IN 1836, Battle of the Alamo begins near San Antonio de Bexar, Texas; 1896, the Tootsie Roll invented by LEO HIRSCHFELD.
- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: On this day in 1472, Orkney, Shetland islands put up as collateral by Norway to Scotland in lieu of dowry for MARGARET OF DENMARK on her marriage with JAMES III, king of Scotland; 1962, JOHN GLENN first American to orbit Earth.
- TOMORROW'S HEADLINES TODAY: City mayoral candidates debate campaign issues; Hartford, Conn., woman still missing; Neal Goswami reports attempts to legislate suicide; local woman loses 100 pounds through TOPS program.
- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: On this day in 1878, JOHN TUNSTALL murdered near Lincoln, New Mexico, by the outlaw JESSE EVANS; in 1930, ELM FARM OLLIE first cow to fly in aircraft, first to be milked airborne; 1955, nuke test WASP; '79, snow in Sahara.
- TOMORROW'S HEADLINES TODAY: Rutland Herald News Editor Alan J. Keays and staff writer Gordon Dritschilo discuss stories planned for the February 18, 2015, edition of the newspaper: Winter budgets maxed, legal marijuana, Springfield bank job, USPS slowdown
- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: On this day in 1249 AD, ANDRE of LONGJUMEAU is dispatched by LOUIS IX of France to meet the KHAGAN, ruler of the Mongol Empire; in 1804, during 1st Barbary War, STEPHEN DECATUR scuttles the pirate-held USS Philadelphia in Tripoli.


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