Let's make a deal! Easiest cars to bargain for

Dodge

The average dicount on a Dodge Charger is 9.9 percent.

By Jim Gorzelany, Forbes.com

Much to the dismay of new-car shoppers, strong sales in recent months have shaved both average dealer discounts and manufacturers? incentives, driving up transaction prices to sky-high levels in the process.

According to data compiled by TrueCar.com, the average price paid for a new vehicle was $30,369 in July, which is up by $487 (1.6 percent) over the last 12 months.

At the same time, the average?industry-wide sales incentive dropped to $2,480, which is down by $96 (3.7 percent) over July 2011?s level and $68 less (2.7 percent) than in June 2012. The ratio of incentives to average transaction price for light-vehicles was 8.2 percent in July 2012, compared to 8.4 percent in June and 8.6 percent in July 2011.

?Even though automakers may give the impression that they are ramping up incentives spending, the very low cost of funds and historically high resale values are in fact enabling them to create a ton of noise with fewer actual dollars spent,? explains Jesse Toprak, TrueCar.com?s vice president of market intelligence. ?Manufacturers are increasingly moving away from cash incentives and pushing finance and lease programs, which -- along with consumers continuing to buy highly-optioned out vehicles -- is helping with sustained high level of transaction prices.?

So what?s a bargain-hunting cash-strapped new-car buyer to do? Just because average transaction prices are on the rise and incentives are waning doesn?t mean there aren?t some great deals ripe for the picking. We?ve compiled a list of 14 models that offer the deepest average discounts below MSRP in their respective classes, based on information provided by TrueCar.com. We?re also including information on what are still surprisingly generous manufacturers? incentives that apply to each model.

Forbes.com slideshow: The?14 easiest cars to bargain for

Given that new-car prices are fluid and based largely on the forces of supply and demand, dealers tend to be far more willing to cut their margins on overstocked cars and trucks than they are on the hottest-selling models. Time is money in the new-car business, and the longer a new car sits unsold, the more he or she will pay in financing costs to keep it lingering in inventory. How to determine which models are most plentiful on dealers? lots? The industry publication Automotive News -- ?available at many public libraries -- publishes a list of so-called ?days in inventory? for most makes and models every month, and TrueCar.com similarly includes lists of models having the highest and lowest average inventories in its monthly True Trends report.

While it takes just nine days for the typical Toyota dealer to sell a compact Prius c hybrid, Mitsubishi stores are sitting on a whopping 177 average days? supply of the compact Outlander crossover SUV. Needless to say, the Toyota dealer can afford to risk turning away some prospects by commanding close to or even full list price for Prius c, while a Mitsubishi dealer will likely be eager to sell an Outlander at -- or even below -- invoice price (which is typically a few percentage above his or her actual cost) to help winnow down the excess stock.

Among model types, those looking for full-size cars and SUVs will likely be able to garner the most substantial discounts, with the former sitting on dealers? lots for an average 84 days and the latter for 75 days. At the other end of the size spectrum, subcompact and compact cars are moving the quickest at an average 37 days, which means meaningful discounts, especially on the most popular models, will probably be difficult to come by. By comparison, the industry-wide average days in inventory stands at 52 days.

Forbes.com: The most beautiful cars of 2012

But getting down to hard, real-world numbers, we?re highlighting an assortment of model-year 2012 cars and trucks that are being sold, on average, with the highest-percentage discounts off list price in their respective market segments. Among them, dealers are slashing a typical 14.7 percent discount off MSRP on the Chrysler 200 midsize sedan, which this month is being offered with a $3,500 cash rebate or $2,000 cash and zero percent financing for up to 72 months to help sweeten the deal. In the same market segment, the 200?s corporate cousin, the Dodge Avenger, offers the next highest discount at an average of 14.1 percent below list price with equivalent incentives.

While some automakers are able to command higher transaction prices and cut back on big-money rebates, Nissan is keeping the spigots running on sales incentives and their dealers are doing whatever it takes to keep the metal moving, as Nissan and Infiniti-branded cars and trucks account for seven out of 14 of the best deals in our list.

Still, Nissan isn?t the top brand in the industry with regard to cut-rate transaction prices. Last month Dodge?s Ram truck division boasted the biggest discounts at an average 11.4 percent below MSRP, followed by Chrysler at 10.9 and Dodge at 9.1 percent, which at least in part helps explain why Chrysler LLC?s domestic sales jumped by 13 percent in July. The industry average discount among all automakers, according to TrueCar.com, is 5.9 percent.

Forbes.com:?The most appealing cars and trucks

Keep in mind that the figures presented in the accompanying slideshow represent average transaction prices. An astute haggler should be able to negotiate even bigger discounts. No matter what model you ultimately choose, be sure to aim for the so-called invoice price (which is a few percent higher than a dealer?s actual cost) as a target, and that?s before deducting any applicable rebate or negotiating to obtain the additional dealer discount. Always predetermine the invoice price, including options, of any vehicle you?re considering before heading out to a dealership via an online pricing service. Substantial discounts may not be forthcoming on some of the most in-demand cars, but they should be much easier to come by on any of the models we?re featuring here.

In addition to average discounts, we?re highlighting applicable direct-to-consumer cash rebates, discounted financing promotions and so-called marketing-support incentives, which we call additional dealer discounts. Often favored by luxury automakers, the latter are cash allowances given to dealers to lower the prices on select models without seeming to cheapen the brand by offering cash rebates. The only catch is that a dealer may or may not automatically pass them on to the customer.

Be aware that additional incentives may apply, such as those offered to recent college graduates, members of the military and/or certain groups and owners or lessees trading in same-brand or competing models.?Offers may vary by region and are subject to subsequent modification or termination by the manufacturer; cited financing rates are typically open only to qualified buyers with top credit ratings and may vary based on eligibility.

Forbes.com:?The?cars?drivers love best

Forbes.com:?The best compact crossover utility vehicles

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Source: http://bottomline.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/10/13165522-lets-make-a-deal-easiest-cars-to-bargain-for?lite

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Swazi king ends forum with no reform commitment

Swazi King Mswati III on Saturday closed a forum where his subjects called for democratic reforms, promising "expert" reviews but making no formal commitments.

"Experts" would be asked to solve the issues raised, Mswati told some 13,000 people who gathered at his royal palace in Ludzidzini, north of the capital Mbabane.

He discouraged public protests, saying the peace-loving Swazis believe in dialogue as opposed to "fighting each other".

The king promised to review a 2010 law that gave members of parliament a 30 percent salary hike.

But at the same time he urged teachers on strike for a salary raise to return to work after nearly seven weeks.

Mswati made no comment on calls to lift the ban on political parties.

Opposition and rights groups have slammed the forum, known as Sibaya, as an empty move designed to ease tensions but with no formal power in Africa's last absolute monarchy.

Protests have grown since last year in the traditionally peaceful kingdom, which is bordered on three sides by South Africa.

The country's problems are partly blamed on Mswati's extravagant lifestyle, supporting his 13 wives each in her own palace and high-flying international shopping trips, all paid for by state funds.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/swazi-king-ends-forum-no-reform-commitment-174255404.html

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U.S. judge backs RIM in patent dispute with Mformation

TORONTO (Reuters) - A U.S. judge late on Wednesday overturned a $147.2 million jury award against Research in Motion Ltd, ruling that the BlackBerry maker has not infringed a Mformation Technologies Inc patent covering a remote management system for wireless devices.

The ruling, outlined in court documents, gives RIM a much needed reprieve as it battles to conserve cash and turn around its fast-fading fortunes. More nimble competitors have outmaneuvered RIM in recent months, luring away many long-time BlackBerry users.

Crucially for RIM, U.S. District Chief Judge James Ware also granted RIM's motion seeking a new trial if a higher court overturns his ruling. This means that the jury award cannot be reinstated should Mformation successfully appeal the new ruling.

RIM, whose share price has fallen over 70 percent this year as its devices have ceded ground to a new crop of smartphones like Apple Inc's iPhone and a range of devices that run on Google Inc's Android software, cheered the ruling.

"We appreciate the judge's careful consideration of this case. RIM did not infringe on Mformation's patent and we are pleased with this victory," said RIM's Chief Legal Officer Steve Zipperstein in a statement on Thursday.

RIM's shares rose 4.1 percent to $7.93 in morning trading on the Nasdaq. Its Toronto-listed shares rose to C$7.87.

Mformation sued RIM in 2008 and the jury trial began in June. Last month, the jury ruled that RIM had infringed the Mformation patent and awarded the New Jersey-based company $147.2 million in damages.

Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM argued that the jury did not have sufficient evidence to reach this verdict and sought to have it overturned by the judge, who was overseeing the trial.

"The court finds that there was no 'legally sufficient evidentiary basis' on which a reasonable jury could have found for Mformation on the issue of infringement," said Judge Ware in his ruling.

Spokespersons for Mformation, which helps companies manage their smartphone inventory, were not immediately reachable for comment on the new ruling. It is also not clear whether the company will file an appeal.

RIM is no stranger to patent litigation - it was almost crippled by a five-year patent fight with NTP that began in 2001 and at one point threatened to shut down RIM's U.S. operations. RIM eventually paid out more than $600 million to NTP Inc, a patent holding company, to settle that case.

RIM said the dispute with Mformation highlights the need for lawmakers to reform patent laws.

"The purpose of the patent system is to encourage innovation, but the system is still too often exploited in pursuit of other goals," said Zipperstein.

The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California is Mformation Technologies Inc vs. Research in Motion Ltd et al., 5:08-cv-04990.

(Reporting by Euan Rocha in Toronto and Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore; Editing by Mark Potter and Janet Guttsman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-judge-backs-rim-patent-battle-mformation-073816813--finance.html

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Losing ground, Romney is looking to shift campaign

BOSTON (AP) ? Mitt Romney faces urgent tasks as he heads into a new phase of the White House race. He's trying to repair an image damaged by negative Democratic advertising and shift the trajectory of a campaign that's seen him lose ground to President Barack Obama.

He's got opportunities, starting with a big battleground-state bus tour beginning Saturday. Then comes his critical running-mate announcement and the TV hoopla of a national convention, where he'll accept the nomination he's sought for nearly a decade.

If the past few days are any indication, Romney will spend the coming weeks trying to gain ground largely by trying to drag Obama down on a host of issues. It's a shift away from the all-economy, all-the-time strategy of the past several months.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/losing-ground-romney-looking-shift-campaign-202918898.html

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The Truth About Philanthropy ? ArticleMeembu / Dofollow Article ...

The Importance of Celebrity Philanthropy

During these difficult times, who are the persons you turn to when some things go wrong? Sometimes, the world looks cruel and unkind. Seldom, there are no people reaching out to help you in your saddest and darkest days. You?ll absolutely feel terrible when this happens to you. Probably, you see you?ll see your life as a nightmare.

However, thanks to generous people like some celebrities who have given hope to the hopeless people through celebrity philanthropy. How nice of them to extend their help to people they don?t even know and they make them feel that they are valued. The act of sharing what celebrities have to the less fortunate with that desire of making the world a better place is what celebrity philanthropy is all about. This can be in a form of supporting charitable causes established by nonprofit organizations or establishing their own charitable foundation to cater to the needs of the poor, hopeless, and those with less in life.

The celebrities who have the heart to help improve the spiritual well-being, economic and social aspects of others get into celebrity philanthropy. These celebrities believe that one of the reasons of their existence is to be there for other individuals who are experiencing so much difficulties in their life. Celebrity philanthropists are able to help others in so many ways and because of their kindness many adore them. There are many reasons that could motivate a celebrity to do this but the bottom line is that they have helped others in really important and valuable ways and they have helped in alleviating the troubles of the world.

For achieving a powerful celebrity philanthropy, they simply follow easy steps like getting financial education, and spending finances wisely and giving without any greed. Moreover, one should have the right mentality too. Leaving a legacy in this world is quite easy with celebrity philanthropy.

It is important for celebrity philanthropists to consult professionals when they want to give donations. Furthermore, celebrities should be teaching their children or younger relatives about how valuable it is to give and help other individuals who barely have anything in life.

The celebrity philanthropists need not to spend so much. Knowing what things to buy or purchase is also quite important and one should be thrifty. Making wise investments is also important and one should get an ideal lifestyle by creating wealth and giving to others as well. There are lots of people who agree that the way to achieve wealth and long-term success in life is by giving to others who have less in life.

Get To Know The Author: Harvey is a freelance writer and powerful industry voice. He enjoys discussing trends, blogging about , and taking long walks. Find out more on the author?s website.

Source: http://www.articlemeembu.com/the-truth-about-philanthropy/

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Ethylene of no effect -- why peppers do not mature after picking

Friday, August 3, 2012

Tomato breeders scored a coup several years ago when they identified tomatoes with a genetic defect that made the fruits mature very slowly, even under the influence of the phytohormone ethylene. Traders and growers were delighted as it gave them more time to transport the crop, initially still green, from where it was harvested to where it would be sold. At the stores, the tomatoes could then be treated with ethylene to bring them to maturity. Other fruits, like peppers, grapes and strawberries, generally do not mature after picking; they need to be harvested when ripe and consumed as soon as possible. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology in Potsdam investigated why ethylene causes some plants to mature after picking and has absolutely no effect on others.

In order to make it easier to compare the metabolism and the gene expression level of climacteric and non-climacteric plants, the scientists concentrated their work on two closely related species: the climacteric tomato and the non-climacteric habanero chilli pepper, both of the nightshade family. The team studied the plant metabolism at different times of day, before and after the so-called breaker point, the day on which the fruit begins ripening, as evidenced by a visible change of colour.

What happens with tomatoes is that ? on this very day ? they release huge quantities of ethylene, experiencing what is known as "ethylene shock". The gaseous phytohormone ethylene activates its own synthesis as soon as the plant comes into external contact with ethylene. That is why green bananas turn yellow quicker when they are stored next to apples, as apples represent an excellent source of ethylene.

Two enzymes are instrumental in the synthesis of ethylene. These are called ACC synthase and ACC oxidase. During the ripening process, climacteric tomato fruits produce much more of these enzymes, which causes ethylene levels to rise continuously. The ethylene then sets a cascade of signals in motion in the tomatoes, causing the fruits to ripen. Green chloroplasts convert to colourful chromoplasts, the hard cell wall components break down, sugars are formed and the nutrient content changes.

This is not the case with the chillis. "It looks like the ethylene has absolutely no influence on the gene expression or the metabolism of habenero chilli peppers," says group leader Alisdair Fernie, who studied the fruits' metabolism and gene activity with his team. Surprisingly, though, genes lower down the ethylene signal chain showed heightened levels of activity. "The genes for breaking down the plant cell wall or the carotenoid biosynthesis during the plant's normal process of ripening were produced in greater quantities in the tomatoes and peppers alike," explains Fernie. The molecule that triggers the ripening process in peppers and other non-climacteric fruits is something that the scientists are still searching for.

###

Integrative comparative analyses of transcript and metabolite profiles from pepper and tomato ripening and development stages uncovers species-specific patterns of network regulatory behaviour Plant Physiology August 2012 vol. 159 no. 4 1713-1729 doi:10.1104/pp.112.199711

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft: http://www.mpg.de

Thanks to Max-Planck-Gesellschaft for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 61 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/122332/Ethylene_of_no_effect____why_peppers_do_not_mature_after_picking

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Health service administration salary - HEALTH, BEAUTY & FITNESS

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Source: http://curryrecipe-jp.net/health-2/health-service-administration-salary/

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After Aurora Shooting, Will Gun Control Become Election Issue?

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/aurora-shooting-gun-control-become-election-issue-222500531.html

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How to Use Gambits to Negotiate a Better Deal

3:00 PM By Article Directory

'; div.innerHTML = summary; } //]]> How to Use Gambits to Negotiate a Better Deal How to Use Gambits to Negotiate a Better Deal

When negotiating, we can use Gambits as manoeuvres for advantage to get us as close as possible to our ideal position, whilst still leaving the other party feeling as if they've got a reasonable deal too. So use these techniques to your advantage and, perhaps as importantly, recognise when someone is using these techniques on you. So let's have a look at the gambits people use.

Nibble

The nibble is one of the most used of all of the gambits. You may have seen this used when you go to buy a new car. You've done the deal, so you think, and the salesperson starts asking you about warranties, servicing deals, mats to go into your car. For just a little extra money you can have this, you can have that. The deal you have already struck is being slowly nibbled away and gradually what you are buying and the price you are paying is changing.

You are at your most vulnerable during a negotiation when you are close to, or at, the agreement stage. This is because you are likely to be feeling good. You are close to agreement after a long, hard, slog; you're close to getting what you wanted. So it's easier for the other party to creep up on you unawares and include things that really should have been covered earlier. When this happens, don't be afraid to say something like "I'm surprised these items are extra - I assumed they were included - perhaps we need to look at the whole deal again."

Hot potato

This is where the buyer will try and put a problem with the negotiation onto the seller and this normally happens at the start of a negotiation. For example, when buying a house, a purchaser may specify to the Estate Agent the sort of house they want and in what location, but put a top limit on it of $ 200,000. They have just passed a hot potato to the Estate Agent. They're saying you can find a house for me but I want it to be a bargain; I'm trying to improve my negotiating position before we've even started. The smart Estate Agent will spot he has been passed a vegetable and test just how hot this particular one is by saying something like, '...and if I found what you were looking for at $ 225,000, are you saying that you wouldn't be interested?' As the buyer, do your homework first; know the value of what you want to purchase. As the seller, the important thing is to spot the potato.

Higher authority

You might use this gambit when you are close to agreement and something like price is the problem. You might try something like, 'I hoped we could agree at $ 5,000 because, if the price goes above that, I'll have to get approval from my finance committee.' The aim, of course, is to force agreement to avoid further delays.

You can use a touch of amateur psychology here. You can make it seem as though you are on their side saying something like, 'I'll do my best to get the agreement of my finance committee, but...'

People are sometimes quite reticent about using this ploy as it implies that they do not have the authority to complete the deal and no one likes to pretend that they have less authority than they really do. Swallow your pride and save some money!

This is a great one to use personally. Our spouses use it all of the time when sales people come to the door or telephone. 'Oh, I couldn't make a decision on that without asking my partner first', is a great ploy to get unwanted sales people off your back.

Funny money

With this gambit you endeavour to make your price sound more attractive than it is. It's like lying with statistics. You attempt to disguise the real situation. So what you would do, for example, is to tell a customer that you were going to have a general price increase from $ 100 per hour to $ 120 per hour but because they were such a valuable customer and did this or that or the other, you were only going to increase their price to $ 110 per hour. The bad news is that there has been a price increase; the good news is that they got a $ 10 per hour discount.

So play around with your figures. Put them forward in a way that sounds most attractive to your customer. Link it to the benefits that they are going to get. And, of course, look out for people trying the funny money gambit on you. Remember it's the total cost that counts; what cash is going to leave your business, not any complicated per head calculation.

Use these Gambits whenever you can, you'll be surprised at just how effective they can be in helping you to get a better deal. Recognise when someone uses these Gambits on you, see them for what they are and preserve your position.

Bob Malloney, a personal and business skills trainer for over 20 years can help you to make a real difference to your working life, all from the comfort of your PC. Streaming video courses that replicate instructor-led training. Register now for a free, no obligation 7-day trial at http://www.videocoaching.tv.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bob_Malloney

Source: http://business-negotiation.blogspot.com/2012/07/how-to-use-gambits-to-negotiate-better.html

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Steve Wozniak reveals contents of his backpack, has a lot of stuff

This is what happens when you're someone who co-founded Apple.

Filed under: Cellphones, Misc. Gadgets, Tablet PCs

Steve Wozniak reveals contents of his backpack, has a lot of stuff originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Jul 2012 15:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/17/apple-founder-steve-wozniak-reveals-contents-of-his-backpack-iphones-ipads/

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China Third Country To Be Hit By 'Brown Tide'

There's a fascinating story with Greenpeace and GM corn. The folks making the GM corn did a study where they got both their GM corn and conventional corn that was as similar as possible, and then fed both to lab rats. They weighed the rats every week, then took the rats apart after a while and assayed... everything. Organ sizes, weights, chemistries, etc. They concluded that there were no significant differences.

Greenpeace sued to get the raw data, something I think they have a right to (since that study was used as the basis for approval). They got some folks (grad students in Germany, I think) to do their own statistics, which concluded that GM corn caused a statistically significant increase in growth rate for male rats and a statistically significant decrease for female rats. I looked at what they did, and it turns out they made a sophomoric statistics error that I teach, well, sophomore undergrads not to make.

What they did, essentially, was to neglect the fact that limited-sample-size uncertainties in "weight of rat at 6 weeks" and "weight of rat at 7 weeks" are correlated when they tested for statistical significance. Of course they're correlated -- they're the same damned rats! (In technical language, they calculated chi-squared based on the naive standard-errors-of-the-mean, rather than on the full covariance matrix which is required for [strongly] correlated data.)

If Greenpeace can't even get undergrad stats right in one of the cases where they *have* shown their work (and it's wrong) then I see no reason to give them any credibility unless someone who's better at this than they are checks their work.

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/FUxJsj0F14A/china-third-country-to-be-hit-by-brown-tide

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Navy: US ship fires on boat off Dubai, 1 killed

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/navy-us-ship-fires-boat-off-dubai-1-180524003.html

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AP Exclusive: Feds: Design led to nuke plant woes

CAPISTRANO BEACH, Calif. (AP) ? After months of investigation, federal regulators have determined that design flaws appear to be the cause of excessive wear in tubing that carries radioactive water through California's troubled San Onofre nuclear power plant, a top federal regulator said.

The twin-reactor plant between Los Angeles and San Diego has been idle since January, after a tube break in one of four, massive steam generators released traces of radiation. A team of federal investigators was dispatched to the plant in March after the discovery that some tubes were so badly corroded that they could fail and possibly release radiation, a stunning finding inside the virtually new equipment.

Missteps in fabrication or installation were considered as possible sources of the rapid tube decay but "it looks primarily we are pointed toward the design" of the heavily modified generators, Nuclear Regulatory Commission Regional Administrator Elmo Collins told The Associated Press in an interview Sunday.

Collins didn't rule out that one or more of the generators, installed in a $670 million overhaul in 2009 and 2010, might have to be replaced.

Eight tubes failed during earlier pressure tests in the Unit 3 reactor and "we have not seen that in the industry before," Collins said.

"It's these four steam generators that either have, or are susceptible to, this type of problem," Collins said, referring to the unusual damage caused when alloy tubes vibrate and rattle against each other or brackets that hold them in place.

So far, a fix has remained elusive.

"It's not too hard to frame up the problem," he added. "The answers are very difficult, or they already would have emerged."

The disclosure will rivet new attention on a series of alterations to the equipment design, including the decision to add 400 tubes to each generator and installing V-shaped supports that were intended to minimize tube wear and vibration.

It's possible operator Southern California Edison could face penalties stemming from the federal investigation, Collins said.

The generators were designed to meet a federal test to qualify as "in-kind," or essentially identical, replacements for the original generators, which would allow them to be installed without prior approval from federal regulators.

The environmental group Friends of the Earth has claimed Edison misled the NRC about the changes that it has identified as the likely culprit in excessive tube wear. The federal agency previously disputed that charge, but Collins said that's under review as part of the investigation. The group on Monday filed a petition asking the NRC to keep the plant offline until the company amends its license to reflect the design changes.

Inside the guts of the machinery, the original steam generators and the replacements "look substantially different," Collins added.

The NRC is scheduled to discuss its findings Monday evening at a meeting near the plant.

Collins said safety would remain the first consideration at San Onofre. About 7.4 million Californians live within 50 miles of San Onofre, which can power 1.4 million homes.

"These are significant technical issues. They are not resolved yet," Collins said.

Edison did not immediately comment on the NRC findings.

The company said in a statement the Unit 2 reactor likely would remain offline at least through August, pending NRC approval for a restart. It did not project a restart date for Unit 3, where tube damage has been more severe. The company is expected to submit a plan to the NRC later this summer to restart one, or both, reactors, which would have to outline how the company can control the tube damage.

"We know that the outage and the tube wear issue have generated concern in our community," Edison president Ron Litzinger said.

Cracked and corroded generator tubing has vexed the nation's nuclear industry for years.

Decaying generator tubes helped push San Onofre's Unit 1 reactor into retirement in 1992, even though it was designed to run until 2004. The following year, the Trojan nuclear plant, near Portland, Ore., was shuttered because of microscopic cracks in steam generator tubes, cutting years off its expected lifespan. Westinghouse Electric Corp. weathered a legal battle with five utilities in the 1990s that wanted the company to replace steam generators it manufactured for the Beaver Valley nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania after tubing corroded.

But the troubled San Onofre generators, manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, might be a unique case because of the extensive modifications. Only one other U.S. nuclear plant uses Mitsubishi generators, the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station, about 20 miles north of Omaha, but its generators are smaller than those at San Onofre and have not displayed excessive tube decay, federal officials say.

The cause of the unusual wear has been eagerly anticipated, as Edison prepares to submit a proposal to the NRC to restart one or both of the reactors. The company has suggested the reactors would run for a test period under reduced power to reduce vibration.

"The phenomenon that we think causes this tube-to-tube interaction is definitely proportional to the power," Collins said. "At least in some theoretical sense, that might be part of the answer."

The company has announced that 510 tubes have been plugged, or retired from use, in the Unit 2 reactor, and 807 tubes in its sister, Unit 3. Each of the generators has nearly 10,000 tubes, and the number retired is well within the limit allowed to continue operation.

What's at issue is why so many tubes degraded so quickly, when the design changes were intended to improve the plant's performance and longevity.

The steam generators ? two in each reactor ? function something like a car radiator, which controls heat in the vehicle's engine. The generator tubes circulate hot, radioactive water from the reactors, which then heats non-radioactive water surrounding them. That makes steam, which is used to turn turbines to make electricity.

The tubes have to be thin enough to transfer heat, but thick enough to hold up under heavy pressure. They represent a critical safety barrier ? if a tube breaks, there is the potential that radioactivity can escape into the atmosphere. Also, serious leaks can drain protective cooling water from a reactor.

The trouble began to unfold in January, when the Unit 3 reactor was shut down as a precaution after a tube break. Traces of radiation escaped at the time, but officials said there was no danger to workers or neighbors. Unit 2 had been taken offline earlier that month for maintenance, but investigators later found unexpected wear in tubes in both units.

The NRC has said there is no timetable to restart the reactors.

Edison has been facing pressure from some nearby communities and anti-nuclear activists that have raised safety concerns, while the company looks for a solution to the tube problem and a path to restarting the plant, an important source of power in Southern California. The design of the generators is also under congressional scrutiny.

The plant is owned by SCE, San Diego Gas & Electric and the city of Riverside. The Unit 1 reactor operated from 1968 to 1992, when it was shut down and dismantled.

___

Follow Michael R. Blood at http://twitter.com/MichaelRBloodAP

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Regime forces besiege Homs, 69 killed across Syria

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Navas rescues Spain, Croatia bow out

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When Chomsky wept

Politics. I first met Noam Chomsky in Laos, where I showed him the devastating effects of U.S. air raids

How will the world end?

Arts. War. Environmental collapse. Natural disasters: Writing from the near future, a sci-fi master imagines our Doomsday

My secret from Dad

Life. For 20 years, I protected him from the teenage trauma that tore apart my world. Now, it's time to come clean

In the middle: Shrink

Studio. Episode 3: Henriette hopes therapy makes Kevin a better listener -- but the therapist sings a different tune

Copyright ? 2012 Salon Media Group, Inc. Reproduction of material from any Salon pages without written permission is strictly prohibited.

SALON ? is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a trademark of Salon Media Group Inc.

Associated Press articles: Copyright ? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Doo.net Lands Series A Funding To Organise Documents, Automatically For The People

Paper continues to be a problem inside organisations. we just can't seem to get rid it despite all these computers. And organising it is annoying. Doo.net hopes to solve the problem by organising documents with a cloud-based service. It's now launched its public beta on OS X and announced a Series A round which takes the companies total funding to $10m. Plus, an app for the Windows 8 Store is close to final approval and mobile apps for iOS and Android. A Google Docs integration, will come in the next few weeks.

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Join Me on Blog Talk Radio with Guest Candace Talmadge as we ...

The Sherry Andrea Psychic Emapth Show is pleased to announce guest Candace Talmadge. Join us as we talk PRACTICAL SPIRITUALITY!

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13TH, 2012 10:00PM EST

?http://www.blogtalkradio.com/sherryandrea/2012/06/14/guest-candace-talmadge-talks-practical-spirituality

Join us as we discuss?incorporating your spiritual gifts and abilities into your daily lives.

Candace Talmadge has been taking clients to meet their guides since 1988. She particularly enjoys teaching Boomer women about Practical Spirituality and how to heighten their intuitive gifts through meeting their Spirit Guides. Candace has worked for more than 35 years as a professional writer and journalist. Under the byline CL Talmadge, she has published four novels in her Green Stone of Healing? speculative fiction series, drawing on inspiration from her guides and recollections of past lives.

Practical spirituality is a powerful means for self-improvement and greater self-awareness.

Candace says:

One of the easiest ways to make spirituality practical is to establish a conscious daily relationship with your spirit guides. You already have an unconscious relationship with your guides, so why not know what?s really going on between you and them?

Since 1988, I have been taking women to meet their spirit guides and helping them learn to keep the conversation going. The benefits of conscious daily interaction with your spirit guides include:

• Enhancing your people skills.
• ?Turbocharging your creativity.
• ?Elevating your self-confidence and self-reliance.
• ?Easing your anxieties and worries.
• ?Experiencing more joy and hope in your life (?broke to stoked?).

This is a show you will not want to miss and will be very interactive. So clear your schedule for June 13th at 10pm EST and set yourself a reminder because this is not a show you will want to miss as Candace?bust some myths about spirit guides as well as takes us all through an exercise that will literally be a ?hands-on? experience of who we really are at the soul level?feeling the energy of you and your guides.

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www.Facebook.com/TheHealingCircle

www.Twitter.com/StoneScribe

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Warmer weather pushes Home Depot 1Q profit up

NEW YORK (AP) ? Home Depot said Tuesday that its first-quarter net income climbed nearly 28 percent as unseasonably warm winter and increased business from contractors and other professional customers boosted results at the world's biggest home-improvement company.

The company raised its 2012 net income guidance on the better-than-expected profit. But its revenue fell short of Wall Street expectations, sending its stock down 3.5 percent in trading.

Home Depot's results illustrate what's going on in the U.S. economy. While a prolonged U.S. housing slump has caused some Americans to cut back on spending on their homes, contractors and other professionals are starting to buy again. Confidence among U.S. builders rose to the highest level in five years in May, according to The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index released Tuesday.

CEO Frank Blake said larger professional customers are coming back more quickly than smaller professional customers and do-it-yourselfers.

"This suggests a thawing process with the larger customers recovering first, with - hopefully - stronger recovery spreading," he said. "While there are some positive signs in the housing market, it is still under pressure."

The Atlanta-based company, which has more than 2,200 stores worldwide, also benefited from mild weather. This spring ? the fourth warmest in the company's history ? led to strong sales of products like lawn mowers and lawn products, grills, planters and other gardening and outdoor products. Plumbing and kitchen products were weaker.

Home Depot Inc. reported net income of $1.04 billion, or 68 cents per share, for the period ended April 29. That's up from $812 million, or 50 cents per share, a year earlier. The latest results beat the 64 cents per share that analysts polled by FactSet expected.

Revenue rose 6 percent to $17.81 billion from $16.8 billion. But that missed Wall Street's estimate of $17.89 billion. Revenue at stores open at least a year rose 5.8 percent, with the metric climbing 6.1 percent for U.S. locations. This figure is a key indicator of a retailer's health because it excludes results from stores recently opened or closed.

Total transactions rose 4 percent while the average ticket per customer rose 2 percent. The number of people spending less than $50, about 20 percent of sales, rose 2.4 percent. The number of people spending over $900, also 20 percent of sales, rose 6.7 percent during the quarter.

The company expects fiscal 2012 earnings of $2.90 per share, with revenue up about 4.6 percent. This implies revenue of approximately $73.66 billion. Home Depot previously predicted earnings of about $2.79 per share and a 4 percent revenue increase. Analysts had expected earnings of $2.90 per share on revenue of $74.06 billion.

Home Depot shares fell $1.01, or 2 percent, to $48.87 during morning trading. The stock has risen 19 percent since the beginning of the year.

Home Depot's smaller rival Lowe's Cos. reports quarterly results on Monday.

___

Associated Press Writer Michelle Chapman contributed to this report

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Oldest evidence of insect pollination found

With massive dinosaurs towering above, tiny female insects called thrips had just dusted themselves with hundreds of pollen grains from a gingko tree more than 100 million years ago when they perished, only to be preserved in tree resin called amber.

The discovery, detailed this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the oldest known record of insect pollination.

(Pollination occurs when either the wind or an animal, mostly insects, deliver pollen from a plant's male reproductive organ to the female parts either on the same plant or another one.)

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During the lower Cretaceous Period when the newly discovered thrips lived, flowering plants would have just started to diversify, eventually replacing conifers as the dominant species, the researchers said.

"This is the oldest direct evidence for pollination, and the only one from the age of the dinosaurs," study researcher Carmen Soriano said in a statement. "The co-evolution of flowering plants and insects, thanks to pollination, is a great evolutionary success story."

Soriano and an international team of scientists studying the two pieces of amber, which were discovered in what is now northern Spain, say the specimens date back between 110 million and 105 million years ago. [Photos of the Ancient Pollinators]

They found six female thrips, also called thysanopterans, enclosed in the amber, with hundreds of pollen grains attached to their tiny bodies ? the insects are just 2 millimeters long. The thrips, the researchers found, belong to a new genus now named Gymnopollisthrips, with two new species, G. minor and G. major.

After the amber pieces' initial discovery, they were then kept in a collection of the Museo de Ciencias Naturales de ?lava in Spain.

To get a closer look at the pollination event frozen in time, the team used synchrotron X-ray tomography at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), focusing on the most representative of the amber-encapsulated thrips. In synchrotron X-ray tomography, charged particles are sent speeding through magnetic fields; these particles release high-energy light that can then pierce opaque materials to reveal three-dimensional, high-resolution images.

The images revealed various features of the pollen grains, together suggesting the grains came from a kind of cycad, or gingko, tree, the researchers said. Gingkos have separate male and female trees, with males producing small pollen cones and females bearing ovules at the ends of stalks that develop into seeds after pollination.

The researchers wondered what these pollen transporters would've gotten in return for their services so long ago. The benefit must have been the opportunity to pick up pollen food for the thrips' larvae, said the researchers, adding that this benefit would have nudged the emergence of the ringed hairs specialized for pollen transport.

"Thrips might indeed turn out to be one of the first pollinator groups in geological history, long before evolution turned some of them into flower pollinators," Soriano said.

Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience and on Facebook.

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