15 SUREFIRE STRATEGIES TO STAY FIT FROM THANKSGIVING TO NEW YEAR'S DAY

Between pies and cross-country travel, it can be pretty tough to stay active during the holiday season. A cornucopia of family obligations, work parties and last-minute shopping means that hitting the gym often gets delayed or crossed off the schedule altogether. Not this year! There are 35 days between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, and we're determined to make the most of them. We've come up with 15 smart strategies, tips, tricks and motivational techniques to make fitness part of the celebration all holiday season long. Read on to learn how to keep up your exercise routine this winter, Christmas cookies be darned.

1. Get Out There Snuggling under the blankets with a mug of hot chocolate is fine and dandy, but it probably won't help you out in the fitness department. Instead of baking cookies or playing board games, pass the time with an active pursuit like snowshoeing, hiking or even building snowmen or igloos.

2. Set A Challenge Each year, Runner's World magazine challenges readers to run every single day (logging at least one mile per day) between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. Pounding the pavement not your style? Create your own challenge, whether it involves trying a new bodyweight exercise every day, testing different yoga poses or experimenting with an unfamiliar running workout.

3. Make It Official Sign up for a race, competition or fitness-y vacation like a hiking or bike trip in January or February so you have a good reason (and plenty of motivation) to stay in shape over the holidays.

4. Try Feet-First Sightseeing If you're traveling or going on vacation explore a new city on foot or bike instead of in a car or by public transportation (weather permitting).

5. Find A Workout Buddy Rolling out of bed for a 6 a.m. gym sesh is much harder to skip when you're one half of a dynamic workout duo. Enlist a fitness-minded friend or family member (especially if you're traveling) to be your holiday exercise buddy. Encourage each other to lace up the sneakers for pre-dinner workouts and post-shopping trip runs.

6. Treat Yourself No, not to that extra slice of pumpkin pie. If it's within your budget, indulge in new workout clothing or fitness equipment before Thanksgiving to boost motivation throughout the holiday season.

7. Start A Fitness Tradition There are tons of family-friendly holiday-themed running events in most areas. Sign up the whole family (don't forget the costumes) for a fun, goofy Turkey Trot or Jingle Jog. Before you know it, the annual race will become a family tradition.

8. Include Everyone Working out can often be a solitary activity, which may explain why many people skip the gym when friends and family are in town. Make it a group activity by inviting visitors to join you at the gym or a favorite exercise class.

9. Find A Promotion Many gyms and exercise studios offer deals and specials during the holidays. Do some snooping and sign up if you find a sweet deal. If you've recently joined a gym, take advantage of a free consultation with a personal trainer (most fitness facilities offer this perk) to learn some new moves.

10. Act Like A Kid Childhood winter favorites like sledding, snowball fights and ice-skating get the heart pumping. Head outside for a sneaky (and super-fun) workout.



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BOOST BUSINESS WITH A GREAT ONLINE SHOPPING CHECKOUT

Convert more sales - from even more loyal customers When your checkout is easy to use:
1. less visitors get frustrated and leave before paying
2. more visitors who start out thinking "maybe", end up clicking ‘buy’
3. people keep coming back for more AND tell their friends about you too
4. you spend less time and money fixing customer problems.
5 simple ways to make your web checkout people-friendly
A lot of research has been done to find out what makes a good web checkout. Here’s what online shoppers say:
Make it quick The fewer clicks the better. Ask customers for the minimum information you need and only ask once. Offer a “Save for later” option so they can come back and finish another time.

Avoid surprises Half way through checkout, don’t tell your customers they need to create an account to continue. And don’t try to sell them something extra or better.

Provide information at every step From the start of checkout, all the way to the end, show the cost including tax and delivery charges. And provide details on your delivery and payment options.

Be clear and detailed Give customers all the details they need during checkout and when you confirm their payment – including delivery charges, returns policy, how to contact customer service, etc.

Instil trust People are more likely to buy if they know their personal and financial information is secure. So display a trusted payment option on your homepage and through checkout.


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SOCIAL NETWORKING PORTAL USING LATEST DOTNET TECHNOLOGY WITH MVC-4

Itech solutions has bagged an opportunity to develop social networking project.We are going to implement this project in .net ,the MVC4 technology and it is a latest technology released in the year sep 2012. It is web based application. This is a platform to build relations around globe to share interests, activities, backgrounds, or real-life connections. A social network service consists of a representation of each user (often a profile), his/her social links, and a variety of additional services

The funtionality of the project is much similar to facebook.The site allows users to share ideas, pictures, posts, activities, events, and interests with people in their network.A dedicated website or other application which enables users to communicate with each other by posting information like comments, messages, images, etc.It also includes chat functionality.

The project includes E-commerce funtionality where the User can buy/sell Product.The user can make announcements to all his/her contact specifying an article he wants to sell or recommending an article that one of his friend have already added.It also gives eBook facility and Ad management facility.



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WEB OR DESKTOP BASED SOFTWARE : ALL ABOUT RIGHT CHOICE

A number of textile software applications are available in the market. Computer Aided Design (CAD), Point of Sale (POS), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Pattern Making Software, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), etc. are few of the textile software programs available in the market. They assist in smooth functioning of a textile firm. They can be divided into two main groups: desktop based and web based. 

All the software applications were desktop applications in the beginning. Software used to be installed in the PC and an icon that let the software to be accessed was placed on the desktop. Users clicked on the icon to work on the software. They could work without the help of internet but could not work on different computers in different locations. It was necessary to install them in a particular computer for it to work on that computer.

With the development in internet, web based software applications became popular with business owners. This type of a software application enabled users to access the application on the World Wide Web (WWW) platform. It can be accessed from anywhere in the world and by anybody in the textile firm through the internet with the help of a login ID and a password. It was dependent on the internet connection, though!

Modern textile firms prefer to use web based software applications as compared to the desktop applications. This is because web based applications being recently developed offers many advantages over the former. Large firms with many branches especially prefer to opt for this kind. In fact, many textile software developing firms are only developing web based software programs, nowadays, owing to its excessive demand.

Web based programs can be accessed from anywhere in the world with the help of the internet. The internet is present all over the world. This makes the manufacturing work easy. Large firms with many branches integrate all their data in a single web based application and assign a valid login ID and password to all its users. Authentic users having the login ID and password can access the data at anytime and from anywhere.


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CREATING A TOUCH-SCREEN ON A COUNTERTOP

By translating shapes into computerized images, this system can turn any surface into a touch-screen. 


The next step in touch-screens may be to ditch the actual screen, according to researchers at Purdue University. Engineers Karthik Ramani and Niklas Elmqvist and their colleagues recently unveiled a projector-based computer input system that can transform desks, office walls, or even kitchen islands into interactive surfaces. 

The system, called extended multitouch, consists of a computer, a projector, and a Microsoft Kinect depth-sensing camera. (Also used for the Xbox 360, Kinect enables users to interact with games and devices optically, without touching anything.) The projector displays the contents of a typical computer screen onto a surface like your refrigerator or stone countertop, while the Kinect’s infrared laser and receiver estimate the distance to the surface. 

As a user moves his hand into view, the Kinect snaps 30 frames per second, and an image-processing algorithm in the computer tracks and deciphers the changes from frame to frame. “Basically, we know where your hand is and what your hand is doing,” Ramani says. If the user’s finger comes within a few centimeters of the projected image (i.e., the surface), the system interprets this as a touch.

Other researchers have demonstrated technology that can make use of a similar kind of virtual click, but the Purdue system is unique: It can distinguish between thumbs and fingers, pick out a right hand from a left, and even track the hands of several users at once. In one experiment, several subjects drew virtual pictures on a table, and the computer marked each individual’s rendering in a unique color.


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7 REASONS YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO MUSIC WHEN YOU WORK OUT

Listening to music when you hit the gym to improve your workout isn't exactly a new concept. But understanding how your favorite tunes enhance your exercise is a little less obvious. Research consistently finds that listening to music distracts athletes from their "bodily awareness" (read: pain). And a recent study found that not just listening, but controlling and creating music in time to one's pace had an even more profound effect on perceived effort during a workout.

Here are seven very good reasons to rock out during your next gym session. 
1. Music is the good kind of distraction.
While the study did suggest there's more to it than distraction, working out with music did make participants less aware of their exertion. Such a distraction can benefit athletic performance by up to 15 percent, The Guardian reported. The faster the better, according to WebMD: Upbeat tunes have more information for our brains to process, which takes your mind off of that side stitch.

2. It ups your effort.
A 2010 study found that cyclists actually worked harder when listening to faster music as compared to music at a slower tempo. But too fast is no good, either. Songs between 120 and 140 beats per minute (bpm) have the maximum effect on moderate exercisers.

3. Music puts you "in the zone".
Everyone has that go-to song that gets you "in the zone," and there's science to why it works. We associate certain songs with memories, often relating to the context in which we originally heard them, such as the first time you watched Rocky. Channeling that memory -- or even just the emotion of the singer -- boosts the motivational power of the song, and has been shown to improve physical performance.

4. A good beat can help you keep pace.
The rhythm of your workout music stimulates the motor area of the brain as to when to move, thereby aiding self-paced exercises such as running or weight-lifting. Clueing into these time signals helps us use our energy more efficiently, since keeping a steady pace is easier on our bodies than fluctuating throughout a sweat session.

5. Music can elevate your mood.
An August 2013 analysis found that people often listen to music as a way to change their mood and find self-awareness. Study participants said that listening to music allowed them to think about themselves, who they wanted to be and give them an escape from the present. No matter what happened an hour ago, you can use your tunes to help you escape negativity and power you through your workout -- and you know you'll feel great when it's over.

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CLIENT RELATIONSHIPS AND THE MULTI-DEVICE WEB

When you step into the room with a client, you are a visitor from the future. You, web professional, spend your days immersed in the new paradigms of the multi-device web. Yet even for you, the constant change and adjustments that come with living on the internet can feel overwhelming. So how do you think your clients feel? 

The web is fluid and mercurial. Our processes for working with it—and our clients—need to reflect that. It’s time for us to shed the vestigial mindsets we’ve inherited from the advertising world—the closed communications and drama of the “big reveal”—and build new systems based on honesty, inclusion, and genuine communication. We can bring our clients into the process right away, letting them see all the flaws and bumps along the way. Through this relationship they will become true partners—rather than confused, anxious bystanders—as we learn to better navigate this strange, evolving digital universe together.

Perspective is everything 
When your clients first think of a website, the mental image they conjure is likely that of a web browser as rendered on a desktop computer. This is completely understandable—after all, the majority of their website experiences occur while sitting at desks, fiddling with the things sitting atop those desks.

From where we’re sitting, however, we see the web as comprised of many more devices. Until recently, it’s been convenient to think of those devices as belonging to definable buckets like “smartphones,” “tablets,” and “laptops.” But as more and more varied devices have entered the market, those buckets have multiplied and overflowed, giving way to an amorphous continuum of display sizes, resolutions, browsers, operating systems, conventions, and interface possibilities. 

This has required an overhaul in our thinking. Rather than websites being a series of perfect constructions rendered on each screen in exacting detail, web designers have started thinking in terms of systems. Flexibility has become a more valuable currency than specificity. If your clients have ever been part of a traditional design project before, this is not what they’re expecting to encounter in your meetings. So how do we begin bridging this gap? How do we help our clients start seeing the internet through our magic design goggles? For heaven’s sake, how do we talk about this stuff?


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ITECH QUIZ APPLICATION FOR HR SERVICES

Itech has spread its wing in the field of Android development. Hence Itech has come up with new application for the candidates who visits our company website, to make interview schedules to the candidates based on the result coming from this Quiz application. 

In the Itech Quiz app we are providing the sample quiz to the candidates in his smart phone. This quiz contains the simple questions based on the experience level and the topic selected by the candidate. At the end of the quiz it displays the result for that quiz attended by the candidate and we maintain that result and sent it to our mail with the candidate details (name, email-id, mobile-no, qualification and result he scored in the quiz). 

By using this application it is easy to find the candidates who are good in result. It is also easy to short list the candidates and make schedule to those candidates for the interview. Even it is good application to candidates to check their intelligence and to understand where they are standing and where they have to be in future.


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INTERVIEWING HUMANS

The goal of interviewing users is to learn about everything that might influence how the users might use what you’re creating. Good interviewing is a skill you develop with practice. The great myth is that you need to be a good talker. Conducting a good interview is actually about shutting up. This can be very hard, especially when you’re enthusiastic about the topic. 

Remember, the people you’re interviewing want to be liked. They want to demonstrate their smarts. When you’re interviewing someone you know nothing. You’re learning a completely new and fascinating subject: that person. 

Preparation 
Once you have established who you want to talk to and what you want to find out, create your interview guide. This is a document you should have with you while you’re interviewing to ensure that you stay on topic and get all of the information you need. 

The interview guide should contain: 

1. The brief description and goal of the study. This is for you to share with the participant and use to remind yourself to stay close to the topic.
2. The basic factual or demographic questions for putting the participant’s answers in context.
3. These will vary depending on the purpose of the interview, but often include name, gender, age, location, and job title or role.
4. A couple of icebreaker or warm-up questions to get the participant talking. Most people know this as “small talk.” Feel free to improvise these based on the demographic information.
5. The questions or topics that are the primary focus of the interview. 

You should also gather a bit of background information on the topic and people you’ll be discussing, particularly if the domain is unfamiliar to you. Talking to homeowners about how they selected their mortgage brokers? Read up on mortgages. Sitting down with the head of customer service? Review the support forums or frequently asked questions. 

Interview structure: three boxes, loosely joined 
An interview has three acts, like a play or a spin class: the introduction and warm-up, the body of the interview, and the conclusion. 


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WHY HUMAN RESOURCES NEEDS SOCIAL BUSINESS?

As companies identify more areas where social software can be put to use, the push to launch social software solutions from IT departments and specialty departments grows stronger. Many IT directors see social software as an opportunity to raise their profile, and departments from marketing to product development push adoption driven by their basic goals and responsibilities. 

But one department is missing from this clamor, even though social software adoption would appear to be in its best interests. I’m talking about Human Resources (HR). 

HR departments have to deal with a number of challenges. On the one hand, they have the Facebook generation employees who automatically bring their social web behavior and work styles with them to the company. 

On the other side is a sizable number of 40- to 55-year-old employees. They are part of the email generation and it won’t be long before they retire. It is important to preserve their knowledge and expertise for the company’s future. A 2012 study by Initiative D21 and TNS Infratest identified this generational division and showed that this is exactly what distinguishes how these two age groups work. The first camp wants and demands social software on the job and is used to transparent sharing. The second often refuses to use the social web, even outside of work, and has always relied on e-mail to meet its needs. 

Preserving employee expertise is going to be a challenge in both cases. One is moving towards retirement and the other is far more willing to change employers — unlike their older colleagues, who often stayed with the same company for their entire career. 

I see this where I work too. A lot of young coworkers say, “I’ve been here for three, four, five years and I’m ready for something new.” And then they’re gone — just when they’ve learned the ropes and become productive. 


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9 'HEALTHY' ALTERNATIVES THAT ARE JUST AS BAD AS THE ORIGINALS

In some instances, we've found, the low-cal, fat-free, diet foods we find are even less healthful than the originals. Take, for example, fat-free salad dressing: Manufacturers remove some fat, but they replace those fats with less healthful ingredients, such as high-fructose corn syrup. Here are a few more so-called health foods that we think aren't better than the originals: 

1) Fat-free milk 
We know what you're thinking: "Only 90 calories in a one cup serving and absolutely no fat? This MUST be a winner!" Think again. When companies take out all the fat in milk, they're also removing good vitamins like A and D. While some skim milk gets vitamins A and D added back in, it's not naturally from the milk fat. Additionally, in a TIME article, Dr. Walter Willett, chair of the department of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health, said that most reduced-fat foods cause people to eat more because they are not as filling. 

Opting for milk with just a bit of fat helps you get nutrients like conjugated lineolic acid without packing in too many calories. 

2) Reduced-fat peanut butter 
Some people stress over the amount of fat calories in peanut butter. But nuts contain good sources of heart-healthy fats. The reduced-fat versions of peanut butter replace the missing fat with extra sweeteners and empty carbs. Regular peanut butter typically includes just 4 more grams of fat per serving, which can work as part of a healthy, balanced diet: The total recommended fat intake for the average person is about 30 percent of total calories each day. Instead, your best bet is to seek peanut butter that only lists peanuts in its ingredients (so it doesn't have other added preservatives or ingredients). 

3) Soy meat alternatives 
Too much emphasis on high-risk investments. The age-old concept of the "get rich quick" scheme is a common pitfall that many people are aware of, yet continues to burn investors. A new investor must keep in mind at all times that their investments are a long-term strategy, and as such, a potentially high short-term gain is simply not worth pursuing when it is weighed up against the risk of losing your hard-earned money. 

4) Fat-free turkey 
Most packaged turkey products (especially fat-free ones) are loaded with crazy amounts of sodium to keep them fresh. One 2-ounce serving of some brands contains almost a third of the maximum recommended daily sodium intake. Pre-packaged turkey also contains the preservative sodium nitrate -- a chemical known to turn into cancer-causing chemicals in the stomach and trigger migraines in some people. 

Instead, try buying a (free-range) bird and roasting it yourself. Or, if you're short on time, seek out low-sodium, all-natural versions of those pre-packaged slices. It helps to find a brand that has less than 350 milligrams of sodium per 2-ounce serving. 

5) Gluten-free cookies (if you don't have Celiac or a gluten sensitivity) 
Medical concerns aside, just because it's gluten-free, doesn't necessarily mean it's a healthy alternative. Men's Health reported that just two of Glow's Gluten-Free Gingersnap cookies have more calories than seven of Nabisco's Ginger Snaps -- and as much saturated fat as 10 McDonald's chicken nuggets! 



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5 TECHNOLOGIES EVERY HOSPITAL SHOULD BE USING

1. Single Sign-On (SSO) and common identity management with CCOW integration 
"Start to phase out all applications that cannot meet common identity or SSO requirements," said Shah. The benefits of SSO are many, and include end-to-end user audit sessions to improve security reporting and auditing as well as significant password help desk cost savings. Likewise, Clinical Context Object Workgroup (CCOW) was designed to allow information sharing between clinical and health IT applications, Shah wrote on his blog, adding that "if a hospital can get their labs,EMR, and CPOE vendors to become CCOW compliant, they can share patient context instead of the user having to log in and out of each application separately." 

2. Programmable and app-driven content management and document management systems 
Both should be "a core for electronic health records instead of special-purpose EHR systems written decades ago," said Shah. "For starters, EHRs should be connected to the right document and content management systems like SharePoint or Alfresco." And when an EHR vendor can't meet your requirements, said Shah, what should be encouraged is meeting the requirements in an adjunct system that works with the EHR. 

3. Virtualization. According to Shah, virtualization should be a priority 
"As soon as possible, make it so that no applications should be sitting in physical servers," he said. "Start to phase out those apps that cannot be virtualized. When apps are virtualized, they can easily be scaled and recovered." On his blog, Shah added that environments with a lot of legacy systems embrace virtualization since it allows them to maintain their software while significantly upgrading hardware. "In the past, we've not seen this happen in healthcare," Shah wrote. According to him, simple cloud adoption is next once virtualization becomes the norm. 




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E-COMMERCE WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT

Itech Solutions has bagged an opportunity to develop a e - commerce project called Bluekart. 

Bluekart is an Indian e-commerce company headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka.Bluekart focused on online sales of computers,Home and Kitchen, Mobile Accessories, TV, Aidio, Video and a variety of other products. Bluekart offers multiple payment methods like credit card, debit card, net banking etc. 

In Bluekart, There are 4 login's Admin, End Users,Dealers and Members. In Bluekart, Our client has 4 product categories computer, Home and Kitchen, Mobile Accessories,Tv,Audio,Video. And in future they have planned to extend the product categories as well. Product has got many sub categories, In these each items are displaying with 4 to 5 Thumbnails. ZoomIn and ZoomOut options are given for these Items. And user can do the online shopping and each and every transactions are logically captured by the software which is developing by the Itech.





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IBM TO BUY TRUSTEER FOR MOBILE SECURITY AND FRAUD PROTECTION

IBM has announced it intends to buy Trusteer, a security and fraud protection company based in Isreal, and the company plans to build a cybersecurity software lab there as well. 

Cloud Security 
With rumors swirling the deal is in the US$ 1 billion range, this represents an enormous investment in cloud based security software, and specifically, in mobile, application, malware, counter fraud, financial crimes and advanced threat security. Trusteer apparently has the abiltiy to identify security threats that other systems tend to miss, according to an IBM statement, and seven of the top 10 US banks use its software to secure customer accounts. That Trusteer offers a Saas model for securiy delivery, it should be able to provide PC, desktop, smartphone and tablet security updates in as close to real time as possible. Yoga is a path that assists people in knowing their internal power which is universal truth. Yoga is a resource for the understanding and spreading of this sacred science. The word Yoga comes from Indian philosophy, it literally means union, and in this context refers to the union of the soul of individual with the universal. 

That capability includes counter fraud and advanced persistent threat protection against malware and phishing attacks that target financial systems and endpoint users' personal information. 

Mobile Transaction Protection 
It's likely there's never been a more opportune time to give mobile device users more protection as smartphones are set to outsell PCs in 2013. More devices means more mobile access to banking information, and that only means more temptation to those seeking to exploit those systems. Since 2011, the number of top 25 financial institutions that offer mobile person to person transfers and mobile remote deposit capabilities has more than doubled, and that likely means many tens of millions of dollars changing hands via mobile. Trusteer's technology is said to include account takeover protection, compromised device detection, complex device fingerprinting and a global fraudster database. 

Security is always a high priority with enterprise businesses, and financial institutions had for many years avoided getting into mobile for that very reason. However, customer demand has indeed prompted many to begin that journey, and IBM has no doubt been watching this trend for just the right opportunity. It seems to have found it. 

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5 TECHNIQUES FOR MAINTAINING WEB CONFIDENTIALITY

So many of the Web’s most popular services—e-mail and search as well as photo and video sharing may be free, but that doesn’t mean they come without a cost. That price is information about the people using those services as well as their online behavior intelligence that Facebook, Google, Microsoft and other Internet companies exchange for advertising revenue. The trade-off of privacy for free services is generally acceptable to most Web users, who are used to incessant advertising and at times even benefit from personalized attempts to sell them products and services. 

There are tools available to Web users designed to protect personal information from prying eyes. None of these tools alone ensures complete privacy or protection from cyber snooping, but they do offer a way to trim the data trails that curtail one’s privacy. 

Masking 
E-mail, social networks and other online services often request contact and payment information when users sign up. There are no rules, however, that prevent users from disguising their actual e-mail addresses, phone numbers and credit card numbers as a privacy precaution. Abine, Inc., offers a Web browser plug-in for Firefox and Google Chrome called MaskMe that gives people the ability to create aliases for this type of personal information. The renowned company that is known to bring out effective applications takes pride in its rich experience in this area of app development. The portfolio of the resourceful company unveils effective applications that have been developed for clients falling under various sectors, and applications that have been created to meet the varied needs of end users. 




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HTML5 IS NOW FEATURE-COMPLETE; HERE'S WHAT COMES NEXT

With HTML5 and the Canvas 2D specifications now "feature-complete," the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) is mapping out enhancements for subsequent versions of these technologies. 

W3C is proceeding with refinements that could turn up in the HTML5.1 and Canvas 2D Level 2 versions of the specifications, which were released in an early draft form on Monday. W3C on Monday also published feature-complete renditions of the initial HTML5 and Canvas 2D specifications.

Features under consideration for HTML5.1, though not necessarily mentioned in the first draft, include improvements to video captioning and fast seeking; better forms, including input modes and autocomplete; spell checking; better image accessibility; and more powerful iframes, for embedding documents, a W3C representative said. One intention for Canvas 2D Level 2, meanwhile, is that it would work better on high-resolution displays.

The way the antennas work mean there is no need for soldiers to carry conventional radio whip-antennas, which can be cumbersome and conspicuous.

W3C hopes to finalize HTML5.1 as an official W3C Recommendation in 2016; no date is set yet for finalizing Canvas 2D Level 2. Final adoption of HTML5 as an W3C Recommendations, meanwhile, is anticipated in 2014. Canvas 2D could become official in 2013.

One issue that continues to be a thorn in the side for HTML5 is the lack a standard video codec, with W3C not having found a suitable one that meets the organization's royalty-free requirements. The organization has considered such codecs as H.264 and Google's VP8, which Google said is in fact royalty-free. H.264 is administered by patent pool packager MPEG LA. "It is my view that it would be desirable for MPEG LA to make [patents pertaining to H.264] available on a royalty-free basis," W3C CEO Jeff Jaffe said. MPEG LA offers H.264 royalty-free only in certain cases.


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JAVA 8 ON ARM: ORACLE'S NEW SHOT AGAINST ANDROID?

Oracle has unveiled a developer preview release of standard Java 8 for the ARM processors that power most mobile devices, including capabilities for the JavaFX rich media platform, in what one analyst sees as a shot across the bow of Google's Android mobile platform. 

Java SE (Standard Edition) 8 Developer Preview Release for ARM is intended to get ARM developers testing Java SE 8 before its scheduled release in 2013, said Oracle.com blogger Roger Brinkley. 

Forrester Research analyst John Rymer suggests the move is meant to hurt Android, a consequence of Google's Android mobile platform surviving a patent-infringement lawsuit by Oracle earlier this year. "JDK [Java Development Kit] 8 and JavaFX on ARM can be seen as an attempt to create a 'Java standard' alternative to Android for ARM devices," he says.

Rymer dismisses JavaFX as worth developer attention, calling it a technology that never made it big. "JavaFX is a nonstarter because it has no adoption," he says. "JavaFX was conceived by Sun as a portable rich Internet app environment to compete with Adobe Flash/Flex, and later with Microsoft Silverlight as well. The idea was to bring function provided by browser plug-ins into the Java core. Nice idea, but it just never gained adoption. I don't see that changing." 

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NEW, FASTER APPLE IPAD EXPECTED NEXT WEEK

(Reuters) - Apple Inc is hosting a media event next Wednesday, where it is expected to unveil a faster, better-equipped version of its popular iPad tablet to thwart increasing competition from deep-pocketed rivals such as Amazon.com Inc.

The invitation-only event will be held at 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT) on March 7 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, where the company also introduced the last two generations of iPads.

Apple, which sent the invitation to reporters by email on Tuesday, did not divulge details of the event beyond saying: "We have something you really have to see. And touch."

The invitation featured a partial picture of the touchscreen of a device resembling an iPad.

Apple launches are some of the hottest events on the tech calendar, scrutinized by fans, investors, the media and industry insiders alike.

The iPad has dominated the nascent tablet computer market, but Amazon's Kindle Fire, which sells at half the cost, has chipped away at the lower end of the market.

The third iteration of a device that has helped put pressure on demand for traditional laptops and computers is expected to boast a faster, quad-core processor and a higher-definition screen.

Some analysts and industry experts expect 4G wireless capability, ensuring that the iPad remains current as cutting-edge broadband technology from Verizon Wireless and other carriers gains momentum. Verizon Wireless is a venture of Verizon Communications Inc and Vodafone Group Plc.

"The picture is zoomed in on an icon and I don't see any pixels in that icon," Avi Greengart, analyst at Current Analysis, said, underscoring how industry experts pick apart even Apple's communiques for hints of what to expect.

"You don't need exceptional foresight to guess that Apple is likely looking at a higher resolution display."

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TIPS TO REDUCE AND MANAGE JOB AND WORKPLACE STRESS

While some stress is a normal part of the workplace, excessive stress can interfere with your productivity and reduce your physical and emotional health. Finding ways to manage workplace stress is not about making huge changes to every aspect of your work life or rethinking career ambitions. Rather, stress management requires focus on the one thing that’s always within your control: you.

Coping with work stress in today’s uncertain climate

For workers everywhere, the troubled economy may feel like an emotional roller coaster. "Layoffs" and "budget cuts" have become bywords in the workplace, and the result is increased fear, uncertainty, and higher levels of stress. Since job and workplace stress increase in times of economic crisis, it’s important to learn new and better ways of coping with the pressure.

The ability to manage stress in the workplace can not only improve your physical and emotional health, it can also make the difference between success or failure on the job. Your emotions are contagious, and stress has an impact on the quality of your interactions with others. The better you are at managing your own stress, the more you'll positively affect those around you, and the less other people's stress will negatively affect you.

You can learn how to manage job stress

There are a variety of steps you can take to reduce both your overall stress levels and the stress you find on the job and in the workplace. These include:

• Taking responsibility for improving your physical and emotional well-being.
• Avoiding pitfalls by identifying knee jerk habits and negative attitudes that add to the stress you experience at work.
• Learning better communication skills to ease and improve your relationships with management and coworkers.

Tip 1: Recognize warning signs of excessive stress at work

When you feel overwhelmed at work, you lose confidence and may become irritable or withdrawn. This can make you less productive and less effective in your job, and make the work seem less rewarding. If you ignore the warning signs of work stress, they can lead to bigger problems. Beyond interfering with job performance and satisfaction, chronic or intense stress can also lead to physical and emotional health problems.

Signs and symptoms of excessive job and workplace stress

Common causes of excessive workplace stress

Fear of being laid off
More overtime due to staff cutbacks
Pressure to perform to meet rising expectations but with no increase in job satisfaction
Pressure to work at optimum levels – all the time!

Tip 2: Reduce job stress by taking care of yourself

When stress at work interferes with your ability to perform in your job, manage your personal life, or adversely impacts your health, it’s time to take action. Start by paying attention to your physical and emotional health. When your own needs are taken care of, you’re stronger and more resilient to stress. The better you feel, the better equipped you’ll be to manage work stress without becoming overwhelmed.

Taking care of yourself doesn’t require a total lifestyle overhaul. Even small things can lift your mood, increase your energy, and make you feel like you’re back in the driver’s seat. Take things one step at a time, and as you make more positive lifestyle choices, you’ll soon notice a reduction in your stress levels, both at home and at work.

Get moving

Aerobic exercise—activity that raises your heart rate and makes you sweat—is a hugely effective way to lift your mood, increase energy, sharpen focus, and relax both the mind and body. For maximum stress relief, try to get at least 30 minutes of heart-pounding activity on most days. If it’s easier to fit into your schedule, break up the activity into two or three shorter segments.

Make food choices that keep you going

Low blood sugar can make you feel anxious and irritable, while eating too much can make you lethargic. By eating small but frequent meals throughout the day, you can help your body maintain an even level of blood sugar and avoid these swings in mood.

Drink alcohol in moderation and avoid nicotine

Alcohol temporarily reduces anxiety and worry, but too much can cause anxiety as it wears off. Drinking to relieve job stress may also eventually lead to alcohol abuse and dependence. Similarly, smoking when you're feeling stressed and overwhelmed may seem calming, but nicotine is a powerful stimulant – leading to higher, not lower, levels of anxiety.

Get enough sleep

Not only can stress and worry can cause insomnia, but a lack of sleep can leave you vulnerable to even more stress. When you're well-rested, it's much easier to keep your emotional balance, a key factor in coping with job and workplace stress.

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YOU WORK HARD FOR YOUR MONEY, AND YOU WANT YOUR MONEY TO WORK HARD FOR YOU

We all need savings and investments to retire comfortably or to fall back on should unexpected circumstances arise. To that end, common investment vehicles include the stock market, mutual funds and retirement/superannuation accounts. But whichever investment vehicle you opt to employ, it pays to ensure that you are familiar with the mistakes commonly made by new investors. 

1) Not having an adequate plan. The saying goes that failing to plan is planning to fail, and in the case of your investments, you not only need a solid strategy as to how to invest your funds, but you need to have realistically mapped out the regular contributions you will be able to put into your investments. If your investments are not tailored to suit your age and situation and managed according to current market conditions, then you basically have a glorified savings account. 

2) Placing all of your eggs in one basket. This is not only a risky strategy, but one which is certain to limit your money's growth potential over time. The reason you need to have a good combination of stocks, bonds and other investment options is that different investment vehicles will perform differently, depending on the economic conditions at the time. A diverse investment portfolio has a greater potential to endure an unpredictable economic climate. 

3) Too much emphasis on high-risk investments. The age-old concept of the "get rich quick" scheme is a common pitfall that many people are aware of, yet continues to burn investors. A new investor must keep in mind at all times that their investments are a long-term strategy, and as such, a potentially high short-term gain is simply not worth pursuing when it is weighed up against the risk of losing your hard-earned money. 

4) Overly conservative investing. Although this is of far lesser concern and it may even seem counter-intuitive at first, it is worth keeping in mind that a lack of market knowledge could lead an individual to be too conservative in their investments. This can ultimately result in a lack of sufficient returns to meet the investment goal. 

5) Investing with debt. Of fundamental importance when you are laying out your overall investment plan is to make an honest assessment of what you can afford to set aside for investment contributions. Put simply, your money must be free to invest. If you have already racked up credit card debts for example, and you are being charged upwards of 19% interest on this debt, then your first priority should be to pay off that debt. As your investments are unlikely to pay you a return anywhere near the interest on your debt, the elimination of debt ought to be the higher priority. 


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