Weekend Box Office: ?Monsters University? stays strong, holds #1 spot over ?The Heat? and ?White House Down?

Monsters University holds on to the number one spot at the box office this weekend, edging out Sandra Bullock?s buddy cop comedy, The Heat, and Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx?s action packed White House Down.

Monsters University pulled in $46 million during this weekend at the box office, which kept it at #1 for its second week in theaters.

Monsters University opened at #1 with $82 million at the domestic box office, and $54 million in foreign markets last weekend. A very strong start for Pixar?s latest animated film. It?s had impressive marketing and continues to impress as it crossed $300 million worldwide this weekend.

The Heat, starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy did surprisingly well, pulling in just over $40 million. With a budget of only $43 million, The Heat has enjoyed fairly decent reviews, which should lead to it having a strong few weeks at the box office.

World War Z continues to impress, as it was expected to bomb at the theaters but has gone on to pull in $29.8 million this weekend, coming in third place this weekend and making a worldwide total of $259 million.

Coming in fourth is White House Down, starring Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx. The second White House disaster film to open in theaters this year only pulled in $25.7 million this weekend. Even the star power of two pretty big hitters wasn?t able to salvage its opening weekend.

Reviews have been fairly mixed, so we expect this film, which had a budget of $150 million, to most likely end up barely breaking even unless its foreign box office makes up the difference (unlikely).

Man of Steel comes in behind all four, but had a fairly strong third weekend. Pulling in $20.8 million and finally breaking half a billion worldwide, as it ends up sitting at $520 million after this weekend?s take.

We?re starting to see the expected swing from Man of Steel?s domestic totals to the foreign totals, as the film has now pulled in $271.7 million in foreign markets and will most likely continue to grow as it hits more theaters outside of the States.

Which movie did you see this weekend?

Source: http://www.hypable.com/2013/06/30/weekend-box-office-monsters-university-stays-strong-holds-1-spot-over-the-heat-and-white-house-down/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=weekend-box-office-monsters-university-stays-strong-holds-1-spot-over-th

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Welcome to the Blast Furnace, Iron-Bru.net's messageboard sponsored by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. This is the most popular and influential place for debate about the state of the Iron team at all levels.

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Villaraigosa leaves L.A. mayor's office with a solid legacy

Villaraigosa leaves L.A. mayor's office with a solid legacy On his first day as mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa told Los Angeles that it was time to "start thinking big again."
New public transit spending could make Los Angeles' bus and rail network worthy of a great metropolis. A bigger police force could make neighborhoods safer. Renewable energy projects could turn Los Angeles into America's "greenest big city." Public school reforms could reverse decades of decline.
Eight... read more

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Source: http://www.newsrt.us/news/villaraigosa-leaves-l-a-mayor-s-office-with-a-solid-legacy-1091440.html

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The bike boom

Americans are using bikes for transportation and recreation in record numbers as the fitness and green movements, as well as high energy costs, spur a two-wheel revolution.

By Ron Scherer,?Staff writer / June 30, 2013

Cyclists look out from the Marquam Bridge in Portland, Ore., during an annual 'bridge pedal' event that takes riders over 10 spans in the city. This is the cover story in the July 1 issue of The Christian Science MonitorWeekly.

Rick Bowmer/AP/File

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Wearing a black Jil Sander skirt matched with an elegant Velvet T-shirt, Lucy Wallace Eustice is pedaling her bike to work on a day as clear as Baccarat crystal. Her four-mile journey takes her along a bicycle path, one of the nation's busiest, that parallels the Hudson River on one side and the Manhattan skyline on the other side.

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To get to her SoHo office in the middle of the city, she weaves through side streets, dodging UPS trucks, squawking taxis, and workmen perforating roadways with jackhammers. Ms. Eustice could easily take other methods of transportation ? the teeming subway system or one of the New York's ubiquitous cabs.

But instead she chooses her silver Globe commuter seven-speed ? even on cold days. "You are free when you're on the bike," says the fashion designer, whose bike, appropriately enough, has chic saddlebags. "You belong to yourself."

Yet a sense of emancipation in a city that can feel claustrophobic isn't the only reason Eustice bikes to work. She sees her ride as the equivalent of a trip to the gym and relishes the fresh air and "solitude." On weekends, she and her husband, John, and their two children often bike in the countryside as a family outing. "You gotta love your bike," she says.

Indeed, millions of Americans are doing just that ? having a sudden romance with their bicycles. From the cliffs of Santa Monica, Calif., to the canyons of Wall Street, Americans of all generations and incomes are jumping on their Cannondales, Treks, and Specializeds in record numbers, turning to them both as a form of transportation and recreation.

The bike craze is being driven by a confluence of forces ? perpetually high energy prices, the green movement, and an enduring fitness craze. At the same time, a new generation of mayors is pushing bike lanes, bike-share programs, bike garages, and other accouterments to wean people from their cars and couches onto the seats of Schwinns and Peugeots. In some cases, the municipal chief executives are engaged in friendly ? but fierce ? competition to get their city labeled the most "bike-friendly."

The result, on any given morning, is a growing legion of people in spandex, skirts, and Brooks Brothers suits coursing down urban streets from Minneapolis to Charlotte, Miami to Seattle in a way that is changing how the country travels to work. Enough of them are now filling roadways that they are creating new clashes with motorists and pedestrians for their share of asphalt in the nation's cities.

What, exactly, is America becoming here ... the Netherlands?

Well, not quite. The Dutch use their bikes for 26 percent of all their trips compared with 1 percent of Americans. Danes use bikes for 19 percent of their travel, while the Germans tap them for 10 percent.

The US is definitely gaining ground, though. Between 2000 and 2011, bicycle commuting in America was up 47 percent overall and 80 percent in communities that are bike-friendly, according to the US Census Bureau.

The largest increase has been in biking-pioneer Portland, Ore., where commuting on two wheels has jumped 250 percent over the same 12-year period. In Washington, D.C., where limos shuttle lobbyists around, biking to work is up 166 percent. Even the prospect of long dark winter days and icy roads hasn't stopped two-wheeled commuters: In Anchorage, Alaska, traveling to work on bikes (yes, much of it with studded tires) has increased 140 percent.

1?|?2?|?3?|?4?|?5?|?6

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/XEfIb56SAdo/The-bike-boom

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Alt-week 6.29.13: DARPA's robot finalists, the IRIS solar mission and empathetic computers

Alt-week takes a look at the best science and alternative tech stories from the last seven days.

Sure, DARPA is slightly sinister, but it's so into robots that we're willing to let that slide. In fact, last year it launched the DARPA Robotics Challenge, and it just announced the top six nine seven teams to advance. But if just the idea of figuring out robotics frustrates you, NC State's face tracking program literally gets that, and NASA just launched the IRIS solar probe from the belly of a transport jet. It's Alt-week, baby.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/29/alt-week-6-29-13-darpa-robots-iris/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Commission: Reports Nigerian troops kill civilians

LAGOS, Nigeria Nigeria's National Human Rights Commission said Sunday it has credible reports security forces are killing, torturing, illegally detaining and raping civilians in a fight to halt an Islamic uprising in northeast Nigeria that has killed nearly 2,000 people since 2010.

A report by the commission said troops retaliating against civilians have torched homes and tried to hide evidence of gross violations by disposing of bodies.

In the most egregious case, where troops went on a rampage in several villages after a soldier was killed in mid-April in the fishing village of Baga, it quoted police as saying soldiers "started shooting indiscriminately at anybody in sight including domestic animals. This reaction resulted to loss of lives and massive destruction of properties."

The military said 36 people were killed, most of them extremist fighters. Witnesses told the AP at the time that some 187 civilians were killed.

The commission said the killings also came after militants had ransacked an armory, with subsequent reports indicating the extremists enjoyed an increase in the caliber and quantity of weapons and "had become both more organized and emboldened by their apparent successes despite the enhanced security presence."

That contradicted military reports that they have taken control of the region in a military emergency covering thee states and one-sixth of the sprawling country. Instead, they appear to have pushed the fighters into rocky mountains with caves where it is more difficult to flush them out. The extremists regularly attack towns and villages.

The commission, a government body, issued an interim report saying it would finalize it when its investigators are able to visit the area where soldiers have cut mobile phone and Internet connections. A state of emergency was declared May 14 when the government said extremists from the Boko Haram terrorist group had taken control of some towns and villages.

The insurgency poses the biggest threat in years to security in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation of 160 million and the continent's biggest oil producer.

Communities trapped between the Islamic militants and the security forces "reportedly live in desperate fear and destitution," the commission said.

It warned of an imminent public health emergency and food shortages because farmers have been forced from their fields.

Food prices have nearly trebled, the commission said, with a 50-kilogram (110-pound) sack of rice selling for up to 18,000 naira ($112.50) from 7,000 naira ($44).

Some medical experts from the region have reported a notable upsurge in sudden deaths, heart attacks and aneurysms, it said.

Northeast Nigeria already presents "the worst statistics of human development in Nigeria generally," it said.

Maternal mortality rates were three times the national average of 545 deaths for every 100,000 live births, and reports reaching the commission suggest the emergency has even more mothers dying in childbirth.

Northeast Nigeria is the poorest region in the country, with government statistics indicating 75 percent of the population lives from hand to mouth on less than $1 a day.

The commission's interim findings corroborated AP reports from the region. Militants who began by targeting government personnel and health workers - they preach that Western religion and medicine are forbidden - are increasingly targeting civilians in attacks on schools and vaccination campaigns.

"The Commission equally received several credibly attested allegations of gross violations by officials of the JTF (joint task force of police and military), including allegations of summary executions, torture, arbitrary detention amounting to internment and outrages against the dignity of civilians, as well as rape," the rights commission said.

"In particular, we have received persistent and credibly attested allegations of indiscriminate disposal of dead human remains by personnel of both the JTF and the Borno State Environmental Protection Agency."

The military and presidential spokesmen did not respond to requests for comment.

Source: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/06/29/4137964/commission-reports-nigerian-troops.html

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T-Mobile expected to report first postpaid subscriber gain since 2009

T-Mobile Q2 Subscriber

T-Mobile?s new UNcarrier intuitive may already be paying off. Analysts forecast that the carrier will soon record its first postpaid subscriber gain in more than four years. Macquarie Capital estimates that T-Mobile will add 98,000 postpaid customers in the second quarter, compared to having lost 557,000 subscribers in the same quarter in 2012. Barclays is a little more conservative with its estimates, projecting the carrier will add 50,000 postpaid customers. Roger Entner of Recon Analytics, per Investors.com, noted that a majority of T-Mobile?s success can be attributed to the iPhone, on top of the carrier?s unique payment plans.

[More from BGR: BlackBerry?s Black Friday: Company sheds billions in market value as comeback hopes fade]

?There was huge pent-up demand for a cheaper option,? the analyst said. ?The neat thing about installment plans is that it lowers the price consumers have to pay when they walk out of a store. That?s putting pressure on other companies.?

[More from BGR: Nokia told to adopt Android before it?s too late]

Even before the launch of the iPhone, T-Mobile was able to slow customer deflection. The company reported that in the first quarter in lost nearly 200,000 postpaid subscribers, down from losses of 510,000 in Q1 of 2012.

?The combination of near-term subscriber momentum coupled with T-Mobile?s position as a potential alternative for parties that are interested in entering the U.S. wireless market should continue to work in favor of the company?s shares,? Barclay?s analyst Amir Rozwadowski explained.

Macquarie analyst Kevin Smithen noted that T-Mobile?s expansion into 4G LTE has also benefited the company and helped it better compete with AT&T, Verizon and Sprint.

This article was originally published on BGR.com

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/t-mobile-expected-report-first-postpaid-subscriber-gain-185504415.html

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Davis hits 2 HRs as Orioles pound Yankees 11-3

Baltimore Orioles' Ryan Flaherty is congratulated by team mates, Chris Dickerson, left, and J.J. Hardy, right, after hitting a three-run home run against the New York Yankees in the third inning of a baseball game, Saturday, June 29, 2013, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)

Baltimore Orioles' Ryan Flaherty is congratulated by team mates, Chris Dickerson, left, and J.J. Hardy, right, after hitting a three-run home run against the New York Yankees in the third inning of a baseball game, Saturday, June 29, 2013, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)

Baltimore Orioles' Chris Davis follows through on a three-run home run against the New York Yankees in the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday, June 29, 2013, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)

Baltimore Orioles' Adam Jones follows through on a RBI single against the New York Yankees in the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday, June 29, 2013, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)

New York Yankees pitcher Kevin Phelps walks to the dugout after giving up four runs to the Baltimore Orioles in the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday, June 29, 2013, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)

New York Yankees starting pitcher David Phelps delivers against the Baltimore Orioles in the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday, June 29, 2013, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)

BALTIMORE (AP) ? Curveball, fastballs, good pitches, bad pitches, it doesn't matter to Chris Davis.

They're all flying off his bat and into the seats at a record pace.

Davis homered twice to raise his major league-leading total to 30, and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Yankees 11-3 Saturday night to extend New York's losing streak to four games.

Davis hit a three-run drive in the first inning and added a two-run shot in the sixth, his third multihomer game of the season. The five RBIs gave him 79, second-most in the big leagues and just six short of his career high.

Davis is the first player in Orioles history to hit 30 home runs before the end of June. With one more long ball in the next 14 games, Davis will break the franchise record for home runs before the All-Star break, set in 1996 by Brady Anderson.

"You can't make mistakes," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "We made two mistakes with two curveballs tonight. We left them up in the zone and he hit them both out. He's not hitting 1.000, but I will say he is having a tremendous year. You have to make your pitches."

Given that Davis' career high for home runs in a season is 33, who could have seen this coming?

"I don't think it's anything you can predict," Davis said. "I think it's something you obviously work hard toward in the offseason to try and carry it into spring training and then into the season. I'm not going up there to try and hit home runs. I'm just trying to put good swings on good pitches. I think that's the biggest thing."

Davis scored three runs and upped his batting average to .333. The five RBIs tied a season high.

"You can see him grinding and working on it," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "He's not satisfied. He wants to continue to contribute at a high level for his teammates."

Ryan Flaherty also homered for the Orioles, who built a 9-0 lead in the third against David Phelps (5-5). Baltimore will seek to complete a three-game sweep on Sunday.

"They're a tough opponent and we get a chance to see them a bunch during the season, but we have a chance to go for the sweep," Davis said. "It would be huge for us."

Zach Britton (2-2) limited the offensively challenged, injury-riddled Yankees to one earned run over 5 2-3 innings. New York began the day ranked 26th in batting average and 23rd in runs among the 30 major league teams.

Phelps surrendered nine hits and a career-high nine runs in 2 1-3 innings. The right-hander was 4-0 in his last nine starts against AL East foes since Aug. 27, 2012.

"I don't care what our offense is doing. If you give up nine runs, it's a big hole to dig yourself out of," Phelps said. "The last four or five games I've gotten good run support. It's frustrating to go out there and not give them a chance to do it."

The Yankees have lost 12 of 17 to fall within four games of .500 (42-38) for the first time since April 26 (13-9). In addition, New York has dropped four straight in Baltimore during a single season for the first time since 1982.

"You just have to keep fighting," said Robinson Cano, who had two hits. "Hopefully, sooner or later, we'll turn it around and start winning games so we can get closer. We got beat tonight. It's not like we making errors. There was not much you could do."

After Britton worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the first, Baltimore batted around in the bottom half. Singles by Manny Machado, Nick Markakis and Adam Jones produced a run before Davis got under a 2-1 pitch and sent it soaring into the bullpen area beyond the center-field wall for a 4-0 lead.

The Orioles added five runs in the third. Two walks and a single loaded the bases for Chris Dickerson, who singled in two runs. Flaherty followed with a three-run shot to chase Phelps, who was replaced by Ivan Nova.

New York chased Britton in the sixth. After Zoilo Almonte hit a sacrifice fly, another run scored when Davis booted Lyle Overbay's two-out grounder to first. With the bases loaded, Jair Jurrjens came in and retired Austin Romine on a fly ball.

Davis homered off Nova in the bottom half after a single by Markakis. Successive doubles by Chris Stewart and Brett Garner off Pedro Strop made it 11-3 in the ninth.

NOTES: Brian Roberts (hip, knee) is scheduled to return from the DL and start at 2B for Baltimore on Sunday. The 35-year-old last played on April 4. ... Hiroki Kuroda takes the mound for New York on Sunday. Chris Tillman seeks his career-high 10th win for Baltimore. ... Nova is going to be part of the Yankees' six-man rotation heading into the All-Star break, and he could start in the upcoming series against Minnesota, manager Joe Girardi said. ... The Orioles recalled Jurrjens before the game and designated 1B Travis Ishikawa for assignment. ... The only starter in the Baltimore lineup without a hit was Nate McLouth, who went 0 for 5.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-06-29-Yankees-Orioles/id-41f758c35c6a42dfa897ee804ee8211e

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Top 3 marketing approach to boost your online traffic - Web-Hosting ...

The most common way to drive traffic to a website is to properly promote it in different ways. There are many strategies that were developed but only few are remaining that are very much effective and useful to the website.
In the new form of marketing, the competition in every industry has become very complex and unstable due to the continuous changes of search engines on which methods are going to benefit the website in the long run that will not cause penalization.

However, despite the unstable methods of marketing a business or website online, there are still effective approach that have never been ignored by many internet marketers to help and make their business succeed and standout in their market niche and these includes:

SEO - Search Engine Optimization is very popular and a must have strategy online in promoting a website. The future of your website performance in organic search results or SERPs will depend on how competitive and effective the SEO approach you are implementing as this can have a negative result on your website which could last for months.?

The demand of SEO is very popular for many companies as SEO has become the most efficient in marketing a website that can have good results in the long run in just minimal expenses and efforts needed. There are guidelines that you should follow given by search engines for better search rankings and performance of your website.

SEM - Contradict to SEO which is more of organic and free, Search Engine Marketing has become widely known and accepted by many internet marketers and business owners even this method is a form of online advertisements such as: CPC, PPC and CPA. The effectiveness of this approach is definitely beneficial as each visitor coming from online contextual ad is a valid and potential prospect to a website. Unlike in SEO, not all visitors coming from organic search will be converted into clients. However, this method is just quite expensive as this may require a monthly payment to keep your contextual ads remain live and active

SMM - Online marketing does not only cover search engines to generate and drive traffic to a website. Since social media was introduced as an online marketing tool, this has widened the scope of online marketing. The success of social media in establishing online communication was embraced by many marketers to develop and build a strong business. Also, social media platforms like FB, G+, Twitter and LinkedIn can be used as a medium by owners and clients to have a direct contact with each other which is a good start to develop a strong online relationship that could strengthen the business's online presence.

Email Marketing - This method is not quite new to many internet savvy as this is very widely used by many marketers online. However, this will not guarantee the success of business if the online methods that they are using to keep their business grow is email marketing alone may not be enough. The success in email marketing is actually depends on how many contacts you have and how are they related to your industry. If your contacts are not related to your industry, there is no guarantee that you will benefit from them and all your effort could be wasted. So it?s only important that you seek out for only your target audience to avoid being lost in the middle of nowhere.

In a world where everything has become very easy not only for many individuals but also for many companies, online marketing is the best way and convenient for small and huge businesses to marketing their services and increase the opportunity for their business, it is really important that we take advantage of it and use it to success in our industry.

Source: http://www.web-hosting-reviews.info/2013/06/boost-online-traffic.html

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Another man in custody in ex-Patriot's murder case

ATTLEBORO, Mass. (AP) ? A second man was taken into custody in connection with the murder charge against former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez in the shooting death of one of his friends. Meanwhile, relatives of the victim prepared for his funeral.

Two men who authorities say were in a car with Hernandez before one of his friends was shot to death are in custody. On Friday, one was charged with illegally carrying a gun and the other accused of being an accessory after murder.

Hernandez was charged with murder this week, and prosecutors haven't said who fired the shots that killed his friend Odin Lloyd, a Boston semi-pro football player.

Amid the flurry of activity in the courts, Lloyd's relatives were preparing for his funeral in Boston on Saturday. A relative said the service will be at Church of the Holy Spirit in the city's Mattapan section.

Lloyd played for the Boston Bandits and was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancee.

Carlos Ortiz, who was arrested in Connecticut but was transferred to Massachusetts to face the gun charge, and Ernest Wallace, who walked into a South Florida police station to surrender, were identified earlier as being with Hernandez and Lloyd the night of his shooting death, a prosecutor said.

Ortiz was charged Friday with carrying an unlicensed firearm in North Attleborough on June 17, the day Lloyd was found shot to death near Hernandez's home there. Details of the charge weren't released.

Wallace, whose wanted poster was released Thursday night, surrendered in Miramar, Fla., police said. Authorities had been seeking Wallace on a charge of acting as an accessory after Lloyd's murder. Details of that allegation also weren't released.

Police arrested Hernandez on Wednesday at his home and charged him with orchestrating Lloyd's execution-style shooting. Prosecutors said Hernandez orchestrated the killing because Lloyd talked to the wrong people at a nightclub.

Hernandez, Ortiz and Wallace were in a Nissan Altima with Lloyd shortly before his death, Bristol County, Mass., District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter said.

"We now have in custody the three individuals who were in the silver Nissan Altima," Sutter said Friday when Ortiz was arraigned on the gun charge in Attleboro District Court.

All three men have ties to Bristol, Conn.: Hernandez grew up there, Ortiz had been living there and authorities had conflicting addresses for Wallace there and in Miramar.

Hernandez pleaded not guilty to murder and was denied bail Thursday. Ortiz also was being held without bail pending a court hearing on July 9. Wallace was taken to a jail in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., pending extradition proceedings, police said.

Hernandez's lawyer argued in court that the case is circumstantial. He said Hernandez, who was cut by the Patriots the day he was arrested, wanted to clear his name.

Ortiz's attorney, John Connors, said he will seek bail for his client at the July 9 hearing. He described Ortiz as a "gentle person" and said he will advise Ortiz to plead not guilty.

"I can say that his charge has nothing to do with homicide," Connors said.

Wallace walked into the police station and told officers there was a warrant for his arrest, which officers confirmed by checking a computer database.

"He stated he knew he had a warrant because he saw himself on TV," Miramar police Officer Gil Bueno said. "He was very cooperative. It was uneventful."

An attorney for Wallace, David Meier, told The Boston Globe that his client was visiting his mother and other relatives in Miramar when he realized he was wanted in Massachusetts and went to police. Meier said Wallace intends to return to Massachusetts "as soon as possible."

Earlier Friday, Ortiz appeared in Bristol Superior Court in Connecticut, where a judge authorized turning him over to a Massachusetts state trooper and a North Attleborough officer.

A friend and a relative of Ortiz said outside the courthouse that they were stunned by his arrest. They said Ortiz is the devoted father of two girls and a boy, all under the age of 9. Ortiz was unemployed recently but previously worked a long time at a Savers clothing store, they said.

They also said they couldn't believe Ortiz could be part of a murder.

"He's not that type of person. He has a good heart," said friend Milton Montesdeoca, who added he didn't know Hernandez and never heard Ortiz talk about the football star.

Also Friday, authorities said law enforcement officers recovered in Bristol a car Wallace was seen driving before he surrendered.

Authorities have said trouble that led to Lloyd's killing happened June 14, when Lloyd went with Hernandez to a Boston nightclub. Hernandez became upset when Lloyd began talking with people Hernandez apparently didn't like, prosecutors said.

On June 16, the night before the slaying, a prosecutor said, Hernandez texted two unidentified friends and asked them to hurry to Massachusetts from Connecticut.

A few minutes later, he texted Lloyd to tell him he wanted to get together, prosecutors said. Authorities say the three men picked up Lloyd at around 2:30 a.m. June 17, drove him to an industrial park near Hernandez's home and shot him five times.

Prosecutors said an ammunition clip was found in Hernandez's Hummer and matched the caliber of casings found at the scene of Lloyd's killing.

Hernandez, who was drafted by the Patriots in 2010 and signed a five-year contract worth $40 million last summer, could face life in prison if convicted.

___

Collins reported from Bristol, Conn. Associated Press writers Bridget Murphy in Boston and Michael Melia in Hartford, Conn., contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/another-man-custody-ex-patriots-murder-case-065814437.html

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Obama: I don't need 'photo op' with Mandela

President Obama is heading to South Africa from Senegal as part of his African tour, where Nelson Mandela's daughter says he might visit Mandela if doctors approve. NBC's Keir Simmons reports.

By Stacey Klein and Ian Johnston, NBC News

Barack Obama said Friday that he did not need a ?photo op? with Nelson Mandela, saying the ?last thing? he wanted to do was be intrusive at a time when the anti-apartheid icon?s family are concerned about his health.

However, the president did not rule out a meeting.

On Tuesday, Mandela's daughter Zindzi said that her father ?opened his eyes and gave me a smile? when she told him Obama was coming.

Siphiwe Sibeko / Reuters

Protesters protest the visit of President Barack Obama in Pretoria Friday. One said he viewed Obama as a "disappointment" and thought Nelson Mandela would too.

Speaking on Air Force One as he flew to South Africa from Senegal, Obama said that ?we?ll see what the situation is when we land.?

?I don't need photo op," he said. "The last thing I want to do is be intrusive at a time when the family is concerned? with Mandela?s condition.

He said the main message he wanted to deliver was ?profound gratitude? for Mandela?s leadership and to say that ?the thoughts and prayers of the American people are with him, his family and his country.?

This message could be delivered to his family and not directly to Mandela, the president said.

On Thursday, Obama said he had already had the "privilege of meeting Madiba [Mandela's clan name] and speaking to him."

"And he's a personal hero, but I don't think I'm unique in that regard," Obama added. "If and when he passes from this place, one thing I think we'll all know is that his legacy is one that will linger on throughout the ages."

When asked by NBC News Special Correspondent Charlayne Hunter-Gault?whether the family would welcome a visit by Obama, Zindzi Mandela said Thursday she wasn't aware of any formal request. However, she added that decision would be left with doctors treating the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Ahead of his arrival in Johannesburg on Friday, an anti-Obama protest broke out not far from the hospital where Mandela is being treated with one demonstrator claiming the U.S. president had been a ?disappointment.?

/

View images of civil rights leader Nelson Mandela, who went from anti-apartheid activist to prisoner to South Africa's first black president.

About 200 trade unionists, student activists and South African Communist Party members gathered to protest Obama?s visit over what they called the his ?arrogant, selfish and oppressive? foreign policy.

"We had expectations of America's first black president. Knowing Africa's history, we expected more,? Khomotso Makola, a 19-year-old law student, told Reuters. He said Obama was a ?disappointment, I think Mandela too would be disappointed and feel let down.?

South African critics of Obama have focused in particular on his support for U.S. drone strikes overseas, which they say have killed hundreds of innocent civilians, and his failure to deliver on a pledge to close the U.S. military detention center at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba housing terrorism suspects.

However, Nigerian painter Sanusi Olatunji, 31, had brought portraits of both Mandela and Obama to add to a growing number of flowers, tribute notes and gifts outside the hospital.

?These are the two great men of my lifetime,? he told Reuters. ?To me, Mandela is a prophet who brought peace and opportunity. He made it possible for a black man like me to live in a country that was only for whites.?

Alexander Joe / AFP - Getty Images

A group of well-wishers hold candles and a photo of Nelson Mandela on Thursday as they pray for his recovery outside a Pretoria hospital.

In the latest statement on Mandela?s condition, South African President Jacob Zuma said the 94-year-old was ?much better? on Thursday than he had been the previous night. "The medical team continues to do a sterling job," he added.

A statement issued by Zuma?s office said he and Obama would hold ?crucial bilateral talks that will take forward relations between the two countries? on Saturday.

?South Africa values its warm and mutually beneficial relationship with the United States immensely. This is a significant visit which will take political, economic and people to people relations between the two countries to a higher level, while also enhancing cooperation between U.S. and the African continent at large,? it said.

The statement noted Obama?s visit was being made as South Africa prepares to celebrate ?20 years of freedom? ? 1994 saw the first elections in the country in which all its citizens were eligible to vote. Mandela voted for the first time in his life in that year and was elected the country?s first black president, serving until 1999.

?South Africa greatly appreciates the solidarity provided by the Anti-Apartheid Movement in the United States during the struggle for liberation,? the statement said.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Related:

This story was originally published on Fri Jun 28, 2013 5:05 AM EDT

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663309/s/2ded2716/l/0Lworldnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A60C280C191842150Eobama0Ei0Edont0Eneed0Ephoto0Eop0Ewith0Emandela0Dlite/story01.htm

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Shares of restaurant chain Noodles & Co. soar

NEW YORK (AP) ? Shares of Noodles & Co. are soaring in their first day of trading on the Nasdaq.

The casual restaurant chain raised $96.5 million in its initial public offering of stock. Shares priced at $18 each, above the $15 to $17 it predicted earlier this week.

The company's stock, trading under the ticker "NDLS," has more than doubled in price Friday.

Noodles & Co. was founded in 1995 and serves noodle bowls, salads, soups and sandwiches. The company is based in Broomfield, Colo., and says it has 345 locations in the U.S.

Casual restaurant chains have grown in popularity, led by companies such as Chipotle and Panera. People like them because they feel they're getting better quality food than they'd get at traditional fast-food chains, without having to pay a lot more.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-06-28-Noodles%20and%20Co-IPO/id-32e855825fdd4de4ac9a01935b2b10bb

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Hi Sugarplum!: {Organized} Garage (the Sports Gear & Yard Tools)

Happy, happy Friday!! It has been a crazy-busy week for me, so I'm excited the weekend is finally here. Since our son is still visiting grandparents in Michigan, we're treating Babygirl to a little staycation at a local hotel, complete with lagoon-style pool and room service. We may be creating a little monster. Who am I kidding, I'm more excited than she is!

Today I've got another organizing project for you...that's right, two in one week! Bam! As part of my 'Taking Back Our House' mantra, I'm a possessed woman on a mission to get everything organized. It feels so good once a space is complete, that it easily snowballs into the next.

The Garage has been the latest victim of my wrath...first the spraypaint, then shelves and pegboard...and now the sports gear and yard tools.

If you have kids, or an active husband, chances are, you have gear for every sport laying around your garage. Including the dreaded metal scooter, that always falls and clips me in the ankle when I get out of the car. As our collection grew, it started piling up around the perimeter of the garage...making it a tight fit for our cars, and moms with bony ankles.
I always seemed to have a rogue ball stuck under my car, too. Just for today, I'm going to pretend to be a grown-up, and leave that one alone. Oh nevermind...TWSS.
For the safety of balls and ankles everywhere, we decided a new system...or rather....any system was needed. Enter: Monkey Bars Garage Storage Systems! Installing the heavy-duty Monkey Bar into studs was a breeze...make sure to use your tallest tool as a gauge for how high it needs to be on the wall.
Then slide the assorted hooks on, and snap into place. The fun part was watching all that gear go from the floor, to the walls, in one compact spot!
Even the scooters have a new home, away from my ankles! Along with 4 bats, a hitting stick, 8 full-size balls, a bike pump, and an extra hook for bags!
This sports bag might be the greatest invention ever. The frame mounts to the bar just like the hooks, and the mesh bag, which is open at the top, and sealed closed at the bottom, is attached with super-strong velcro.
You can easily reach in the side opening, without having to get all the balls out.
Puuuuuuurty! I thought about painting the walls, but Texas is already near 100-degrees...ain't nobody got time for that! So I swept the floor instead.
As for the gloves and smaller balls, I used a wall rack leftover from this project, and hung a flat-bottom girl basket on a leftover hook from the Mudroom.
The basket is great for transporting to batting practice...the boys just grab the whole thing off the hook, and it sits on the ground without spilling.
Baseball mitts hang nearby on this cool Ikea gadget (I can't find the link because I don't know it's crazy Swedish name?! Can anyone help? Bueller?)
We've got another one near the bikes for helmets.
The ladders hang from heavy-duty screws, drilled directly in the wall.
So that covers the sports gear...now on to the yard tools.

The previous owners had a board attached to the wall, with large nails in it for hanging tools. That worked for awhile, until the board fell out. Now each tool hangs from these little $1 hooks.

Honestly, I don't reach for these tools often, but seeing them all lined up makes me happy!
We utilized more vertical space by storing holiday decor, camping gear, and other garage-appropriate-crap on shelves above our heads. But now, all the stuff we use regularly, is at eye-level and easy to access.

Pretty big improvement, don't you think?!
And now, how about your own garage overhaul hook-up?!?!

{Giveaway & Discount}

My Exact System, a Bike Rack, or a Yard Tool Rack!

Simply leave a comment telling me what you want to clean up in your garage,

or your best garage organization tip.

Extra entries for all the usual suspects:

Tweet, Facebook, Skywrite, etc
More entries if you follow Monkey Bars on Facebook or Twitter!

And if you just need to get started now,

use code SUGARPLUM for 15% off your total order!

(Code & Giveaway expires July 15, 2013)

Good luck, lovebugs...and happy weekend!

(And a big Happy Birthday to me mum!)

Source: http://hisugarplum.blogspot.com/2013/06/organized-garage-sports-gear-yard-tools.html

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Obama: Pay no attention to Snowden (CNN)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/315967461?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Melissa McCarthy Brings ?The Heat? | Triangle Arts and Entertainment

Women are funny. Especially Melissa McCarthy, a live wire capable of anything. Sandra Bullock can be funny, but in a buttoned-up, run-of-the-mill romantic comedy kind of way. ?The Heat? pairs the two actresses together, hoping that their opposite personalities can strike comedy gold.

Bullock is Ashburn, a pant-suit loving FBI agent sent to Boston in search of a drug kingpin. Paired with the down-to-earth police officer Mullins (McCarthy), the two tear through Boston, causing as much trouble for each other as they do the bad guys.

The cliched, generic buddy cop plot of ?The Heat? works to both its advantage and detriment. The plot itself is a bore, and the film bears a close resemblance to other comedic buddy cop movies, like ?21 Jump Street? and ?The Other Guys,? and even borrows some comedic scenes from them that invole male private parts. The argument could even be made that ?The Heat? could easily have been titled ?The Other Girls.? But the lackadaisical plot allows for Bullock and McCarthy to cut loose, making some generic scenes much, much funnier than they have any right to be. It would be a treat to see these two together in a movie that, plot-wise, was at least mildly engaging.

The plot may not be as labyrinthine as something like ?L.A. Confidential,? but the ?The Heat? is most definitely funny. There really needs to be more women being funny films like this. Director Paul Feig, who last helmed the hilarious ?Bridesmaids,? seems to be one the few in Hollywood clued in to the potential of making a mainstream female comedy where the ladies are every bit as brash and crude as the men. Feig is also smart enough to work with McCarthy again, who earned an Oscar nomination for her star-making turn in ?Bridesmaids.? McCarthy is essentially playing the same ribald character, only she?s much more badass, since she?s a cop and carries a gun and whatnot. Lest you think only the women are funny in ?The Heat,? there are some great turns by some of the male co-stars, especially Tony Hale and Bill Burr, who puts the ?Bah? in ?Bahston.?

McCarthy and Bullock really do make an outstanding comedy team. Bullock, who still looks amazing at 48, is the straight girl to McCarthy?s loose cannon. The uptight, career-minded characters Bullock tends to portray always loosen up by the end of the movie, but with someone like McCarthy loosening the reins, the results are pretty amusing. ?The Heat? may mark the first time Bullock has said ?motherf??r? on screen, and its epic.

?The Heat? may be the female version of every buddy cop comedy ever made, but thanks to McCarthy and Bullock?s chemistry, its also one of the funnier. Just don?t expect to be wowed by the story.

Tagged as: bill burr, Boston, bridesmaids, Comedy, cops, melissa mccarthy, paul fieg, Sandra Bullock, the heat, tom wilson, tony hale

Source: http://triangleartsandentertainment.org/2013/06/melissa-mccarthy-brings-the-heat/

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'White House Down' Reviews Are Bad - Business Insider

Reiner Bajo/Sony Pictures

Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx's new movie "White House Down" comes to theaters Friday.??

The film is going head-to-head this weekend with Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy's cop comedy "The Heat."?

Currently, funny woman McCarthy's film is receiving good overall reviews on film site Rotten Tomatoes with a fresh 66%.

Tatum's drama meanwhile is getting torn to shreds by critics at a lowly 49%.?

We've heard the familiar plot before.??

1600 Pennsylvania Ave. is taken siege by terrorists while Tatum's character John Cale is there for a secret service interview. Soon Cale finds himself in charge of saving the president (Jamie Foxx), the White House, and his daughter (Joey King).??

The film comes across as a mirror image of March release "Olympus Has Fallen" starring Gerard Butler saving the president (this time Morgan Freeman) his palace ? something that didn't go unnoticed by critics.?

Reiner Bajo / Columbia Pictures

Here's what some of the harshest critics are saying about the latest White House film.??

Richard Roeper gave the film an "F" after viciously calling it a lesser version of "Olympus Has Fallen."?

?Everyone in ?White House Down? is an idiot, clinically insane, a clich?, or a vehicle for shameless exploitation.?

Time Out's Keith Uhlich?isn't a fan of the CGI.

"It doesn?t help that all the action scenes, as with many modern Hollywood blockbusters, are seemingly edited with a Cuisinart, or that the copious CGI would barely pass muster in one of those Asylum DTV quickies. Cheap, shoddy, dull, instantly forgettable?this is the America, and American cinema, we know all too well."

Many just tore it apart for sheer ridiculousness.

Rolling Stone:

"Foxx doesn't look remotely presidential, and phones in what is laughably being called a performance.?Worse is the shameless product placement ...?White House Down, rated PG-13 but as crass and cynical as a Michael Bay movie, is a depressing experience."

WSJ:

"'White House Down' is solidly within its genre. In a deeper sense, though, it bespeaks a fatigue that's hard to distinguish from brain death."

Associated Press:

"If stripped of its production value, ''White House Down'' would make one hysterical off-Broadway one-act."

We guess AP hasn't seen Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx's latest musical duet.?

All of the reviews aren't bad, with the New York Times calling it entertaining?and?Variety?referring to it as "a sturdy, old-fashioned bit of escapism"?conjuring memories of John McClane in "Die Hard."?

Reiner Bajo / Columbia Pictures

Even the poor reviews admit Tatum proves himself as an action star in a less-than stellar film.?

Overall, the "White House Down" falls into the "Fast & Furious" franchise category of don't take the film too seriously, and you'll probably end up enjoying it.

Similar poor ratings didn't hurt the film's twin back in March.??

Like "White House Down," "Olympus Has Fallen" currently sits at 47% on RT, yet it opened to $30 million opening weekend and it went on to make an earnest $161 million worldwide.?

The BIG difference with Butler's film is that its estimated production budget was $70 million. Sony's Tatum and Foxx production is worth more than double that cost at $150 million.?

Translation: A $30 million opening at the box office wouldn't cut it.?

BUT Tatum has a lot of star power going into this film.??

He came off a massive box office year in 2012 with "21 Jump Street," "Magic Mike," and dramedy "The Vow." Combined, the films earned more than $560 million worldwide.?

All three films debuted to more than $36 million at the box office.?

"G.I. Joe: Retaliation" was even pushed back to this year to insert Tatum into a larger role after the success of his earlier films. "Retaliation" originally killed off his character early into the film.?

Currently, "White House Down" is projected to earn $35 million opening weekend, according to boxoffice.com.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/white-house-down-reviews-are-bad-2013-6

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Perry, filibuster star clash over Texas abortions

DALLAS (AP) ? A battle over proposed abortion restrictions in Texas became a personal grudge match Thursday between conservative Republican Gov. Rick Perry and a Democratic state senator whose lengthy, one-woman filibuster catapulted her to sudden, national political stardom.

During a speech to the National Right to Life Conference, Perry singled out state Sen. Wendy Davis of Fort Worth, saying that her life story proves all children born into difficult circumstances deserve not be aborted.

"She was the daughter of a single woman, she was a teenage mother herself. She managed to eventually graduate from Harvard Law School and serve in the Texas Senate," Perry said. "It's just unfortunate that she hasn't learned from her own example that every life must be given a chance to realize its full potential and that every life matters."

In comments to reporters afterward, he went even further, saying that he was glad Davis' mother didn't chose to have an abortion.

"What if her mom had said, 'I just can't do this. I don't want to do this,'" Perry said. "At that particular point in time I think it becomes very personal."

Davis shot back in an email statement after Perry's speech: "Rick Perry's statement is without dignity and tarnishes the high office he holds."

"They are small words that reflect a dark and negative point of view," she said. "Our governor should reflect our Texas values. Sadly, Gov. Perry fails that test."

Davis starting working at 14 to help support a household of her single mother and three siblings. By 19, she was already married and divorced with a child of her own ? but she eventually graduated with honors from Harvard Law School and won her senate seat in an upset.

On Tuesday, Davis' marathon speech and raucous outbursts from abortion rights protesters in the state Senate that kept lawmakers from approving sweeping restrictions that could make abortion all but impossible for many women in the second-largest state.

Those efforts ran out the clock on the midnight deadline Tuesday to pass legislation during a special legislative session Perry called to tackle abortion and other key issues. But on Wednesday, he called a second, 30-day extra session and put tighter abortion rules at the top of the agenda he sets for lawmakers.

The extra session has delayed Perry's expected announcement on whether he will seek a fourth full term as governor in elections next year. Davis is up for re-election then too, but some Democratic activists are urging her to seek the party's gubernatorial nomination.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/perry-filibuster-star-clash-over-texas-abortions-175240836.html

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OUYA console founder says it won't be a one-hit wonder

ouya

Yannick LeJacq NBC News contributor

2 hours ago

OUYA

After a runaway Kickstarter campaign and a year of development, the Android-powered OUYA video game console finally launches this week. But do gamers actually want another home entertainment device?

Ever since it first rocketed past its initial $950,000 Kickstarter goal in just eight hours to become one of the most successful projects in the crowdfunding platform's history, the OUYA has been turning heads. A small, cheap and sleekly designed console that promises to wed the disparate worlds of mobile and console gaming and disrupt a deeply entrenched industry dominated by heavyweights like Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo, the OUYA's potentially quixotic ambitions have also raised many a gamer's eyebrows.

The $99 price tag seemed too low for a full-fledged gaming console. And judging by some of the early press, the OUYA hasn't yet managed to convince gamers otherwise. But whether the OUYA lives up to all of its hype and speculation, do gamers really want another television-based console experience as more of the industry shifts toward mobile and more futuristic alternatives like virtual reality?

With the OUYA's launch finally under way this week, NBC News talked to the console's creator, Julie Uhrman, about the device's present and future possibilities.

I'm curious about the timing of the OUYA's launch. Was it important to you to get this device out and get it out a couple of months before the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 come out?

The one thing that's unique about the OUYA ? unlike any other really consumer electronic product I've ever seen, let alone a next-generation console ? is that OUYA is neverfinal. We feel incredibly good about the product that's going on the market, but it's going to get better. The (user interface) is going to continue to evolve, we're gonna add additional features and functionality, social features, parental controls. We're gonna localize OUYA so we can distribute it further than just English-speaking territories. And it's going to continue to evolve while also taking the feedback and support of our gamers and developers. So this is just the end of the end of the first chapter of OUYA, and then we move into the next one. It's not about the time of year; it's just the right time for the product.

In February, you told another interviewer that you would like to see the OUYA adopt a manufacturing or business model similar to the one for mobile devices?putting out a new OUYA model once a year. Is that still the case?

We're gonna have a much more frequent refresh rate than the traditional console market. We leverage readily available chips ? the Nvidia Tegra chip, to be specific. We're going to continually push the processing power and make better chips and put them on the marketplace so OUYA developers can take advantage of them.

We will be thoughtful, however, about when we create a new product and when we launch it to market because, first and foremost, we want to make sure that there are enough developers and enough games that are optimizing the content for these chips. At some point, we will start moving towards: Is there a way to improve the hardware to give a better experience for gamers? And if yes, when is the right time to do that? With hardware, unlike software, you can't turn on a dime. You can't make a decision today and have it impact your audience a month later, three months later, even six months later.

OUYA

OUYA founder Julie Uhrman.

Will each successive OUYA model cost the same amount? I wonder if the OUYA would necessarily remain the more frugal alternative to, say, the PlayStation or Xbox consoles. Fivehundred dollars might seem like a lot for a new console, but itlasted almost a decade for the last generation of consoles. At $99 a year over the course of seven or eight years, the OUYA could potentially outpace next-generation hardware.

We will always have a $99 shoe in the marketplace. But my goal ? and I've always said this ? is to provide the hardware as inexpensively as we can. We want gamers to have a low barrier to entry to get into the console so they can try out new developers and new types of games and play things that they never thought they might be interested in, because everything is free to try! So even with the new hardware, if I can find a way to sell it at less than $99, I will. We want to try to make the entry point as low as possible.

When we speak about disruptions in the modern console industry, a lot of the other new products or proposals have focused more on changing things like the basic interface of gaming?say, the Oculus Rift, which uses a headset rather than a television screen?rather than its business model. Have you thought at all about different types of controllers or interfaces that could be added to the OUYA eventually?

We made OUYA to be open because the creativity of many is significantly greater than the creativity of a few. We only have a team of over 30 people; we want the world to make OUYA better. By making it compatible with mobile devices ? and we're already starting to see that since we have it Bluetooth enabled for games like "You Don't Know Jack" that can pair iOS devices to it. By making it hackable ... you can open it with four standard hex screws on the top. People can sync their PlayStation and Xbox controllers to the OUYA, which creates a multiplayer experience in their living room once they've bought the standard unit. We even have people in GitHub giving us examples of leaderboards and skins and backgrounds to be utilized for OUYA.

I'm looking forward to the cool new peripheral or accessory that's made. If our audience can make something better and faster than we can, we will absolutely use it.

Yannick LeJacq is a contributing writer for NBC News who has also covered technology and games for Kill Screen, The Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic. You can follow him on Twitter at @YannickLeJacq and reach him by email at: ylejacq@gmail.com.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663301/s/2de41423/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Couya0Econsole0Efounder0Esays0Eit0Ewont0Ebe0Eone0Ehit0Ewonder0E6C10A467538/story01.htm

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Mark Webber to leave Formula 1, join Porsche ? The Wheel Deal

Mark Webber,?obviously tired of being Vettel?s bitch, has just announced that he is retiring from Formula 1 at the end of the 2013 season. But this doesn?t mean that the?Australian?is?hanging?up his driving gloves for good ? far from it. Instead the 36-year-old will be joining Porsche?s exciting new?sports car?racing programme that aims to take on the likes of Audi and Toyota.

From 2014 onwards he is set to compete in the firm?s LMP1 sports prototype both at the Le Mans 24 Hours and in the sports car World Endurance Championship WEC. Webber has already raced at Le Mans twice in his career, so his experience will definitely give the Porsche team something of an edge. In 1998 he?also finished runner-up in the FIA GT Championship behind the wheel of a sports prototype.

?It?s an honour for me to join Porsche at its return to the top category in Le Mans and in the sports car World Endurance Championship and be part of the team. Porsche has written racing history as a manufacturer and stands for outstanding technology and performance at the highest level,? says Webber. ?I?m very much looking forward to this new challenge after my time in Formula 1. Porsche will undoubtedly set itself very high goals. I can hardly wait to pilot one of the fastest sports cars in the world.?

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Source: http://blogs.timeslive.co.za/wheeldeal/2013/06/27/mark-webber-to-leave-formula-1-join-porsche/

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