Matching Google Algorithm to Your Traffic Loss | Business 2 ...

When website traffic drops, and it?s clear that you were not the cause of it, it?s time to point your finger at Google, rant, and maybe even cut down that 6000 word rant into an informative 3700 word blog post. This SEO is spending Christmas Eve with Google so hopefully you won?t have to.

This is the type of early Christmas card you would not want from Google.

?It?s probably that darn Google Panda,?

?I feel like it?s Penguin and negative SEO!?

or

?It might be those directory submissions/paid links that so-and-so did in the past?

Before you go on a zealous ?Google is evil? blame rampage, I understand that there?s a ton of ways to blame Google (or someone else) without proof. However, empty accusations will not get you your traffic back. Attributing traffic loss to a Google algorithm update is no easy task. In this post, I?ll outline a bunch of tools, resources, methodologies, and know-how you can use to evaluate potential Google algorithm updates and refreshes* that could be responsible for your sudden loss of traffic.

Warning: To make this post digestible, I?ve excluded things that I consider ?features? of Google Search. When Google updates these features, you could either gain or lose traffic as well.

Table of Contents:

Step 1: Gathering News on Google SERP Volatility

• Tools:
  • MozCast
  • SERPmetrics
  • SERPS.com
• News Sources:
  • Authoritative search engine marketing news websites
  • Webmaster World discussions
  • From Google

Step 2: Picking the Right Dates to Analyze

• The art of framing the question and measuring the right stuff

Step 3: Identifying Your Most Impacted URLS

• How to export, list, and rank landing pages with significant traffic loss

Step 4:? Match Your Landing Page to That Google Algorithm

• Algorithm Updates:
  • Google Panda
  • Penguin
  • Exact Domain Match Update
  • Pirate Update
  • ?Top-Heavy? Update
  • 7 SERPS Update
  • Vince Change
  • Brandy Update
  • Unknown Updates/Changes
• Google Features
  • Expanded Sitelinks
  • Universal Search
  • Personalized Search
  • Google Instant
  • Freshness Update (AKA Caffeine)
  • Real-time Search
  • Knowledge Graph
  • Google Authorship
  • Social Signals
• Local
  • Venice Update
  • Google Places
  • Negative Reviews
  • Google Mobile Search

Step 5: Don?t just Blame Google, Do Something!

• Prepare your content for the next Google Search trends.

Step 6: Diversification is the Best Long Term Solution

• Non-Google traffic alternatives

TLDR; If you have the SEO ninja powers to understand or foresee what Google update you have been hit by, you can remedy or set long-term plans where you won?t be affected by Google?s periodic whims!

Tis The Season to Chase Google Algorithm Updates

While the holiday season is notorious for seasonal SEO traffic changes for B2B and B2C keywords alike, I was seeing unusual traffic changes that started on December 5^th, and continued on the 10^th and 13th. This was odd, since it wasn?t just the traditional week before Christmas where vacation days aren?t uncommon.

12/18/2012 Update: A Google spokesperson says there was no Google Algorithm ?update? on the 13^th. The rest of us are certain that there was some kind of change or a series of changes ? this wouldn?t be the first time we?re having trouble interpreting Googlespeak. For example, what SEO?s named the ?Vince Update,? Googlers would simply consider a small change to the overall algorithm. Personally, I think Google?s either making a series of changes (they make over 500 a year) or running tests (on any given search query from an average user, there may be 10 elements being tested).

One may be a fluke,
Two is a trend,
Three means we better figure out what?s going on.
-Wise Words of Larry Kim

Now without further ado, let?s dig into the analysis. You will need:

- A website whose organic traffic just recently declined
- A browser capable of private/incognito/InPrivate/anonymous search. The latest editions of Firefox, Chrome, and Internet Explorer all allow you to browse the web anonymously.
- A Google Analytics account correctly linked to said website

Optional: A backlink tool such as Google Webmaster Tools, Majestic SEO?s Site Explorer or SEOMoz?s Open Site Explorer.

Step 1: Gathering News on Google SERP Volatility

If there truly is a Google algorithm update or change, chances are you?re not the only one with altered search engine results pages (SERPs). Here are the places I checked to see if I?m just being the boy who cried wolf:

MozCast

SEOMoz?s handy-dandy MozCast tool tracks the SERPs on over 1,000 hand-picked, non-local keywords and displays ranking volatility through cute-looking weather forecasts. The more search results are changing, the hotter the weather forecast becomes. Search enthusiasts, I encourage you to understand the source of this data, and familiarize yourself with the other concepts such as SERP count, EMD and PMD tools offered.

December 10^th just so happens to be one of those stormy days ? check.

SERPmetrics

SERPmetrics uses a different scoring system to calculate what they call ?flux,? which is the average of all SERP movement they track over their last period, weighed towards the top end. Slightly different methodology than the MozCast, but same concept, AND we?re seeing the same trends.

After December 10th, SERP flux goes upwards ? Double checked.

SERPs Volatility Index

SERPS.com creates their own SERPs Volatility Index with their own sample of 1000+ websites, as opposed to hand-picked keywords from select industries. What?s nice is that there?s even an average volatility to help you gauge whether a trend appears significant. Special thanks to Scott Krager for spending some time explaining how the index works.

After December 10th, SERP volatility trends upwards beyond the average date ? Ding ding ding!

Webmaster World Forums

Leave it to the webmasters of the world to tell you if they?re also freaking out. The Google SEO News and Discussion section in Webmaster World Forums is a goldmine for news and insights. If you would like to comment and add to the discussion, please remember to stick to the facts and not your emotions.

70-90% drop in traffic? WordStream must be incredibly lucky! I?m not the only webmaster freaking out? Looks like this will make a nice story.

Search Marketing News Sources: SEL, SEW, SEJ, SERoundtable, and Google

When it comes to confirming a Google algorithm update, these news sites are usually the first to comment on the impact. However, note that their specialty is in news reporting, not speculation ? so it?s nice to get to the source ? Google. If you?re not already following A Googler or Matt Cutts on Twitter, it?s a smart idea to subscribe to Google?s search blog.

@Google is Google?s official Twitter account.

The distinguished Google Engineer Matt Cutts is well known for his webmaster videos on YouTube and answering the question of website owners.

Google has become increasingly transparent about the changes they make in their search algorithm. The only problem is that many of them are cryptically named updates like Porky Pig, smoothieking, and old possum.

Important Disclaimer: Just because it?s not on the news, it doesn?t mean that one of Google?s many search algorithm improvements didn?t impact your web traffic ? even if your overall organic traffic stays constant, it?s very likely that huge SERP movements will negatively impact some of your content while helping others. Step one is purely exploratory to help you test the waters.

Step 2: Picking the Right Dates to Analyze

Comparing the traffic change date ranges correctly to a good benchmark is practically half of this exercise. With experience, you?ll get a sense of how you?ll want to analyze your data.

1.?????? Because our organic traffic follows a weekly cycle, I could compare the current traffic drop to the same date the prior week, or two weeks prior (use your judgment here).

2.?????? I always want the highest precision possible to minimize data sampling error.

Pro Tip: Always be weary of year-over-year trends (i.e. comparing a non-holiday to a holiday range) and one-time special events (presidential election) from your results. Use your judgment on what makes sense ? a bad range will show misleading results.

For my own analysis on what happened on December 10^th, I used the traffic data two weeks prior to the suspected algorithm changes. I had reason to believe that something fishy may?ve occurred on the 5^th, so I did not want to analyze traffic changes that could?ve been caused by multiple updates. There is no perfect or best date ranges to analyze, but there certainly are darn good ones with good reasoning behind them and this is one of them.

Step 3: Find the Offending URL?s By Traffic

Ever since SEOMoz, Raventools, and even Ahrefs have been getting slapped by Google?s API legal terms enforcement team, many of us have lost faith in rank-checking tools. Time to go back to checking good-ol? traffic folks via Google!

1. Log onto your Google Analytics

2. Dig into your Standard Reporting with Content ? Site Content ? Landing Pages and adjust the dates and rows shown (I like to maximize it to 500). Also make sure you have the Advanced Segment ?Non-paid Search Traffic? highlighted.

3. Export the data into an editing friendly format. Excel users, I recommend using the file types .csv and .xlsx. Hipsters, you?re free to use Google Spreadsheets.

4. Find the traffic lost between the period where you believe there?s an algorithm update to the benchmark period prior for each landing page.

4a. Curse at how unfriendly the data format is to do this.

5. Rank the landing pages by the total traffic lost!

5a. Curse more if you?re not very good at Excel?s List and Filter function.

Here are the top 10 landing pages that were impacted by December 10^th:

6. Group similar pages together and make a hypothesis. Seeing that five out of ten of our top traffic loss landing pages was related to our infographics ? content that accrued a large number of anchor-text optimized links in a short amount of time ? I first suspected that this was a Google update on links, anchor text and/or semantically related keywords.

Step 4: Gather Up The Clues, Crack The Case.

This is where SEOs pats themselves on the back and remember why we love our job. Tracking Google algorithm updates to website traffic is like playing detective searching for clues that point to the culprit. Usually it makes sense to start with your hypothesis (you want to hone your SEO senses) but let?s start with the most popular suspects.

These Google updates are the most like culprits for the traffic loss.?(If you need more technical?SEO interviewquestions, any of these algorithms are fair questions to ask an SEO!)

Google Panda Update

Google Panda defined: Google?s Panda algorithm cracks down on thin content/shallow content, sites with high ad-to-content ratios, and?other signals that indicate low web content quality. To date, Panda has been updated over 20 times, and cumulatively impacted over 20% of all English queries.

Why so many updates? Googler Navneet Panda didn?t just build an algorithm ? it was a machine learning system. Panda is an algorithm with an AI that improves over time. The scariest thing of course, is that Panda is a site-wide penalty.

One of the few Google algorithms you can put a face to.

Algorithm assessment: The easiest way to check for a Panda update is to see if all of your web pages are seeing significant traffic decline. The next step is to assess just how useful your website content is. The WordStream landing pages affected are all long, in-depth articles with original perspective. We were not hit by Panda.

Pro Tip: Article submission websites, which were once touted as an SEO best practice, were negatively impacted by the Google Panda update. These websites were rarely ever visited by real people, and were essentially just a web content and links middleman intended to manipulate Google search engine rankings. Keep your web content unique, useful, and thoughtful and you?ll be clear off the path of the Panda?s wrath.

Google Penguin Update

Google Penguin defined: The Google Penguin algorithm (AKA Webspam Update) is notorious for the heavy crack-down it does on websites engaging in linking practices intended to manipulate search engine rankings, but also includes SEO techniques that violate Google?s Webmaster Guidelines. These techniques include keyword stuffing, cloaking, sneaky redirects/doorway pages, purposeful duplicate content, and others. Like Panda, Penguin rolls out in iterations, and I believe the penalty is site-wide as well, but it has not been confirmed by Google.

Algorithm assessment: First, I looked to see if these landing pages are somehow getting linked by websites from bad neighborhoods (e.g. porn/gambling sites). To do this, I logged into Google Webmaster Tools/Open Site Explorer/Majestic SEO and delved into each page?s link profile. Actually visit the sites that are linking to the page if you don?t know them, and then look for patterns. It?s not always the latest links that occur that bring down your traffic ? old links are sometimes lost, broken, or hacked into doing something else.

Seeing that all 10 landing pages were getting URLS from different, trustworthy domains (with a mix of ugly scraper sites in each) and generally had healthy links (e.g. links from the New York Times), I knew we were not being subjected to?spammy link practices.

Pro Tip: Link tracking tools are necessary to find out if your website has been participating in spammy link practices in the past, or has been the target of a?negative SEO attack. The more advanced user will also look at the ratio of varying anchor texts that lead to your landing pages. Visit Google Webmaster Tools, Open Site Explorer, and Majestic SEO to learn more about them.

If you?ve knowingly attempted to manipulate search engine rankings through other means that are in Google?s Webmaster Guidelines? grey or red zones, this tutorial is simply too basic for you ;)

Exact Match Domain Update

Exact Match Domain defined: The Exact Match Domain (EMD) algorithm update was created to prevent SERP domination from domains that are exact matches to the keywords they were targeting. Typically, domains struck by this update have thin content that?s considered low-quality. The EMD update also rolls out periodically like Penguin.

Algorithm assessment: I started by using Google Search with a browser in private browsing mode. If you search for the main keyword variations that are driving traffic to your landing pages and you see competitors with exact match domains beating you in the SERPS, you?ll know that they?ve either improved their page or Google made an exact match domain algorithm change. From my perspective, it looks like an exact match domain algorithm refresh since their website content seems unchanged.

Unfortunately for us, googlekeywordtool.com is a no-nonsense navigational toolbox which people continue to use in order to access Google?s AdWords Keyword Tool ? we?ve been head to head with this URL for a while.

Pro tip: Be extra careful with typing in your query, as Google results are known to change as you retype mistakes. (Yes Google is that darn smart when it comes to personalization) and note that this method isn?t perfect as it is still being adjusted for your connection geography. If any of your links show up as purple (clicked in the past) you?re doing it wrong!

Pirate Update (DMCA Warnings)

Google Pirate defined: When Google receives a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) take-down notice from a copyright owner on some questionable content hosted on Google, Google listens in two ways. First, copyrighted content is removed at the copyright owner?s demands if there?s a clear violation. Then, if a website accumulates an unhealthy number of DMCA take-down requests, the Pirate Update penalizes the whole website from ranking well on Google.

Algorithm assessment: Unless you?re a black hat spammer stealing someone else?s content as your own, running a file-sharing site without copyright enforcement, or some other internet crime syndication platform, I wouldn?t worry about Pirate. For most of us out there, before you make the?mistake of grabbing ?free? images on the web, it?s a good idea to check to see if it has some sort of licensing.

Pro tip: If you can?t find the source, use a?reverse image search tool?to help you make informed decisions without getting in trouble with the law. If you plan on optimizing images for image search, it?s best to own unique images.

?Top Heavy? Update

Top Heavy defined: The Top Heavy Google update penalizes websites with too many ads being shown to a user when they first enter their website. There have been reports of regaining rankings when excessive ads were removed and the website was revisited by the top heavy algorithm. Like the EMD algorithm update, Top Heavy also periodically refreshes.

Here?s a layout of a top-heavy website.

Algorithm assessment: Unfortunately, WordStream is not involved in affiliate advertising to comment on this update.

We?ll welcome the expert bloggers of our site to comment on their experiences with the Top Heavy update.

7-Result SERP Update

7 SERP defined: The 7-Results SERP algorithm update isn?t a penalty per se, but a new feature Google uses to present information to the searcher. Typically, the usual page with 10 search results gets truncated to 6-9 results on the first page (7 is the most common occurrence) and?the top SERP is a Google sitelink. If you need another reason why rank-checking for SEO should die, here you go. However, the topic of rank-checking is another debate for another informative post!

Algorithm assessment: Of the landing pages impacted, only our /google-adwords page has been impacted by the 7-Results SERPs, and it pre-dates December 10^th.

However, a quick check reveals our Google AdWords page has two new competitors ? the New York Times and Search Engine Land? fishy!

Pro Tip: Generally speaking, 7-Results SERPs occur on?navigational queries?which have a result with expanded sitelinks. If you?re competing on a branded terms, this would be an update to keep an eye on.

Vince Change

Vince Change defined: Also known as the ?Google favors brands? update, back in 2009, a Googler named Vince factored in more trust (quality, PageRank, reputation, authority, and other metrics) into the algorithm for general queries. As a result, webmasters were seeing big brands gain a lot more ground than small brands in the SERPs. Note that Vince does not impact long-tail queries.

Case study analysis: The keyword ?Google AdWords? is a prime example of how different brands have different strengths when viewed from a Vince perspective. The New York Times was able to penetrate the SERPs of an already heavily branded keyword due to having great online authority (PR9, quality news, and many trustworthy authors) and break through Google?s branded AdWords wall of defense. WordStream is?definitely seeing something that suggests?a Vince-like update, since most of the pages updated target ?Google? or ?AdWords? keywords.

Pro tip: Big brands can easily bully you out for generic keywords. Either build your brand and become one of them, or focus on the?long-tail. To become a big brand on the internet, you?ll need to?build amazing backlinks.

Brandy Update

Brandy Update defined: Going even further back to 2004, this update gives additional weight to keyword synonyms and other?semantically related keywords. This was also when anchor text variations and the ?neighborhood? of pages with inbound links started being considered as important ranking factors.

Case study analysis: If you?ve looked for the big Penguin in terms of link neighborhoods and webspam such as keyword stuffing, Brandy will remind you that semantics are important on your website content, internal links, and even the anchor text of other websites linking to your content. Having used infographics as a means to garner links and co-citations from news sites, I knew that the embed codes of our Infographics could be creating an unnatural looking backlink profile. However, this doesn?t rule out the possibility that?less weight may be given to links acquired through infographics. Anchor text distribution was a legitimate area of concern for us.

If the main keyword you?re targeting is ?Google AdWords? but a lot of incoming anchor text links say ?adwords grader? instead, it made sense as to why we were losing ground on Google AdWords.

A natural link profile will have branded hyperlinks, full urls, missing anchor text, and sometimes even misspellings. A ?normal? link profile will vary by the competition in a particular keyword space.

The charts above was created with Open Site Explorer data. If you?re looking for free tools, I?d recommend a simple ahrefs account. All of their features should be fully functional till mid-January, which is when Google will force them to comply with the newest API guidelines. Alternatively, backlinkwatch.com is also an option ? it?s slower than a paid tool, filled with annoying ads, but it?s hard to beat free.

Pro tip: If you?re budget strapped, brain dead or don?t have top-notch keyword research skills, you can always use Google?s Related searches tool as a crux. Otherwise, use?WordStream?s Keyword Tool?to find semantically related keywords. Before you start?stuffing these keywords into your article, please hire a writer to do it in a manner that is natural and elegant.

Unknown Updates/Changes

I?m sorry, but Google is a black box and we can?t know everything about Google. There are plenty of algorithmic reasons as to why you may have lost website traffic that I haven?t described here, and only Google knows. Sometimes it?s suspected that there is more emphasis on trust signals like AuthorRank, other times it?s a focus on keyword semantics or the incorporation of social signals ? it?s impossible to pinpoint exactly what is going on by yourself, so make sure you analyze, test, and cross-check with webmasters around the world.

Step 5: Don?t Just Blame ? Have An Action Plan

I hope you now have a better idea of a few parts that goes into Google?s algorithm, and how to attribute the traffic loss your top pages are experiencing. However, don?t just stop there ? you weren?t hired to whine!

At WordStream, we?ve already found ways to diversify incoming link anchor texts, create better lists of semantic keywords to our content writers, and shift our content focus away from infographics in preparation of Google?s current and future algorithm shift.

If it all works out, we?ll have recovered and bested Google?s algorithm for the long run!

Step 6: The Long Term Online Traffic Strategy Is Always To Diversify

If Google pulls a quick one on your organic traffic, is your business dead? For the long run, Google?s bound to make algorithmic updates that will cause your traffic will fall whether you like it or not.

To minimize the impact of this loss, it?s a great idea to invest in?social media marketing?for a steady stream of referral traffic, email marketing for direct traffic to your website, or?God forbid you forget PPC?for a steady stream of qualified leads.

Online marketing is a marathon, and I sincerely thank you for running with us.

Source: http://www.business2community.com/seo/matching-google-algorithm-to-your-traffic-loss-0363923

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Excuse me...is this where life begins?

...shame on you.

Oh, no not you, I was just completing the phrase.

Hello there! A six year roleplayer eh? Well, you must be a vet, and I suppose I can't measure up to your level of experience when it comes to roleplaying on forums seeing as how this is my first and only forum I've roleplayed on. Indeed, they all tend to look 'samey' as you would put it, which is why RPG stands out with its unique system. You can give thanks to site creator, Eric Martindale (username: Remaeus.) We operate on a "don't like it, suggest and improvement" platform, which is how we got here.

I'm sure you're itching to get started, so I won't hold you back.

Oh, one more thing, on behalf of everyone here at RPG, RolePlayGateway, we're glad to have you here.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/po9kHVSRGlQ/viewtopic.php

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In Season :: Sweet Potato & Pomegranate Salad | Camille Styles

By Jeanine Donofrio | December 26th, 2012

It?s the day after Christmas, and food is quite possibly the farthest thing from my mind. Jeanine here, and among other holiday indulgences, I?ve eaten more cookies than I?d like to admit and I?m, well, full. But the holiday season is still a week from over, so I think it?s time for a healthy reprive?

I love roasted sweet potatoes? don?t they make the perfect addition to a winter salad?

This one has been a favorite lately. Hearty roasted sweet potatoes tossed with tangy feta, sweet pomegranate seeds & toasted pistachios. It?s festive enough to bring to a holiday potluck, but simple enough to throw together for a weeknight dinner (and also lunch the following day if you make a little extra).

photos by?Love & Lemons

Sweet Potato & Pomegranate Salad

serves 2 as a main dish, 4 as a side

salad components:

• 2 medium sweet potatoes, cubed, plus olive oil, salt & pepper for roasting
• 2 cups baby salad greens?(baby kale, spinach, arugula, etc.)
• 1/3 cup pomegranate seeds
• 1/3 cup crumbled feta
• 1/4 cup toasted pistachios, toasted & chopped
• handful of chopped cilantro
• 2-3 chopped scallions, white and green parts

dressing:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 clove minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
• salt & pepper, to taste

1. Roast the sweet potatoes:?Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Chop the sweet potato into bite sized cubes. Drizzle with some olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast in the oven for 20-30 minutes, or until they start to edges start to turn darker and roasty.
2. Make the dressing: Whisk together olive oil, vinegar, honey, garlic, salt & pepper. Taste & adjust. Set aside.
3. Assemble all salad ingredients, toss lightly in the dressing.

Source: http://camillestyles.com/food-2/roasted-sweet-potato-pomegranate-salad/

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New Lake Tahoe plan to allow higher density development

Lake Tahoe towns will grow taller and denser under a new regional plan that supporters hope will quell a rebellion by Nevada against land use regulations that have restricted development in the basin.

The new plan is intended to rid the area of some of its midcentury strip development and turn town centers into more inviting, greener destinations that will revive the area's ailing economy.

But the success of the strategy is far from guaranteed. Some traditional environmental defenders of the lake ? one of the world's deepest and clearest ? endorsed the plan primarily to persuade Nevada to remain in a 1969 compact with California. The pact created the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and set the framework for strict environmental controls in the basin, which straddles the two states.

"The plan does include a lot of positive elements, including community revitalization, redevelopment and bike paths," said Darcie Goodman Collins, executive director of the League to Save Lake Tahoe. "But these things may come at a price, which is taller and more dense development close to the lake."

The planning agency, which enforces the regional plan, has long been a target in the basin. Homeowners have complained that its regulations are onerous, and local officials have grumbled that it has too much authority.

The grousing reached a head last year when Nevada enacted legislation warning that it would pull out of the bi-state compact if California didn't make it easier to approve development.

"It was a sledgehammer," said Laurel Ames of the Tahoe Area Sierra Club. She condemned the new plan for handing the authority to grant permits back to local towns and clearing the way for more development in the scenic basin.

In the wake of Nevada's ultimatum, California and Nevada officials convened representatives from the two states, local government, business and conservation groups to work out a compromise. The result was the regional planning board's adoption earlier this month of an updated plan.

Much of the construction in the Tahoe basin took place before strong environmental controls were imposed. By the 1980s, more than half of the region's marshes and wetlands had been filled in or paved over. The world-famous clarity of the lake was declining by roughly a foot a year, diminished by sediment and pollutants washing into the lake from roads and urban areas.

Though the decline in lake clarity has slowed, today's clear depth, about 69 feet, is much shallower than the roughly 97 feet measured in 1967.

The path to recovery, officials say, lies in redevelopment with greener infrastructure that helps keep sediment, nitrogen and phosphorus out of the lake. And the way to get that, they decided, is to make new projects financially attractive to developers by allowing more density and height in the basin's town centers.

"Nobody wants Tahoe to become something it's not," said Leo Drozdoff, director of the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. "But we would like smart, environmentally sensitive development that can pencil out, that people want to take part in."

The new planning blueprint, an overdue update of the 1987 regional plan, will allow more four-story buildings in town centers and more six-story buildings in what has been designated the regional center ? the area around the Highway 50 corridor in South Lake Tahoe.

The plan increases density limits in the centers and creates a new "resort recreation" zone for two areas, opening them to development: 250 acres next to the four high-rise hotel casinos in south Stateline, Nev., and 57 acres at the base of Heavenly Mountain Resort.

The update also expands an existing program of development rights that allows builders to transfer the rights from lots where older buildings in ecologically sensitive areas are razed, to new projects in town centers.

"The concept of this plan is against sprawl and to remove existing development from outlying areas and concentrate it in visitor centers," said Joanne Marchetta, executive director of the regional planning agency.

But will the strategy succeed?

"I think there are enough safeguards in the plan to protect the lake where things won't get worse," said Kyle Davis of the Nevada Conservation League. "Now, whether they'll get better" is uncertain, he added. "What we've designed may not work in terms of older development going away and cleaner and greener development in its place."

More projects will be required only to obtain local permits, escaping regional review, a change that Ames said did not bode well for the basin environment. "The local governments have not shown an interest in environmental protection measures," she said.

Local approvals can be appealed to the regional agency, and local plans will have to conform to regional standards. "This is not by any means unfettered," Marchetta said. "The locals want to protect the lake as much as [the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency] does?. I think we've come some distance in environmental sensibility and sensitivity over 40 or 50 years."

Nevada state Sen. John Lee, the Clark County Democrat who sponsored last year's law to withdraw from the compact, said his bill was intended to get California's attention. "They look over and see us as like a county. We had to let 'em know we were here and we're a valuable friend, that we weren't going to be continually dismissed," he said. "To their credit, they've been fantastic."

But the threat to pull out remains on the books. And Nevada officials have not signaled that they are ready to repeal it. "A lot of people want to take a wait and see approach," Drozdoff said.

bettina.boxall@latimes.com

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/UQkWQkPTZIA/la-me-lake-tahoe-20121225,0,755320.story

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Gift Guide: Dyson DC44 Animal Wireless Vacuum Cleaner

The DC44 from Dyson is truly an Animal. It's as good as it gets in the land of vacuum cleaners, with a wireless base, multiple lightweight attachments, and a sleek design. Sure, it's on the expensive end of the spectrum, but when storing and using your vacuum cleaner is this easy, you realize it's well worth it. Plus, it does a damn good job of keeping the house clean.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/RSwQdqAvOsE/

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The biggest gaming disappointments of 2012 | VentureBeat

Remember all the way back in January, when we looked at all the games that were coming out in 2012 and thought, ?Holy crap! This is going to be the Best Year Ever (for gaming)?!? Well, this is December, and some of us are looking back to those wide-eyed, optimistic past versions of ourselves and wondering why they ever looked forward to some of the stuff we got in 2012. Sure, some of those anticipated titles lived up to our expectations, but in a lot of cases, that optimism was just the first step on a journey of regret and nonstop head shaking.

Here are some of our picks for the most disappointing games and events of 2012.

---

Assassin?s Creed III

Contributor Rus McLaughlin

Occasionally, a little time and distance softens the heart, and you remember things more fondly than what you actually felt at the time. I, on the other hand, despise Assassin?s Creed III more now than when I gave it a midrange score back in October. Oh, my man-love for its naval missions continues unabated, but I indulge in those behind the back of the main game and its sloppy mechanics, frustrating chases, and worthless side missions. I?m gratified that it doesn?t whitewash our nation?s origins as some altruistic crusade for peace and freedom (often spoken of in earshot of working slaves), but Creed ?concludes? its overarching, modern-day plot with a firm middle finger to its most loyal fans. At least it finally settled one lingering question: Desmond is indeed as pointless and useless a diversion as we always suspected.

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The delays

Contributing editor Stephanie Carmichael

Most of the games I was looking forward to all year are now coming out in 2013. Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, Tomb Raider, Bioshock Infinite, Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (or whatever we?re calling it now) are the handful I?ve been most itching to play. Other titles like South Park: The Stick of Truth, Devil May Cry, and Aliens: Colonial Marines have experienced delays as well. I guess I can?t complain too much. More time in development means a better chance of getting these games right, but it also means I?ll be burning a big hole in my wallet come spring.

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Capcom continues to lock content in game discs

Contributor Samir Torres

F*** you, Capcom!

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Twisted Metal?s online multiplayer

Intern Giancarlo Valdes

As a huge fan of the Twisted Metal games since the original PlayStation days, I was ecstatic when I finally got my hands on the PS3 reboot earlier this year. The folks at developer Eat Sleep Play did a fantastic job of bringing its unique brand of vehicular combat to a new generation of consoles with its campaign mode, and playing these levels with a friend in local multiplayer was fun, too. But going online was a different story: Starting from launch day and lasting for weeks, a host of problems made it almost impossible (for me at least) to stay connected to a match. The developers deployed various updates to fix these problems, but I had already moved on.

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Disney Epic Mickey 2

Contributor Rob LeFebvre

After hearing, yet again, legendary designer Warren Spector?s ?big picture? idea of games needing to be open-ended, with multiple paths, as well as not judging players for their ?playstyle,? I really think this game was a huge?disappointment. It changed very little from the first installment and was just another mess of control, camera, and barely comprehensible storyline. As?with?most things disappointing in life, the real problem was going into it with such a high set of expectations.

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Endless Space

Copy editor Jason Wilson

We saw a couple of space-themed 4X?(eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate)?strategy titles this year (Genesis Wars, Legacy of Pegasus, the final ?all clear? for Sword of the Stars II). But the one that many space strategy fans were looking forward to was Endless Space, a game that turned out to be style over substance. Endless Space sports a good-looking user interface and some kick-ass ship designs, but it commits one of the biggest errors that any single-player strategy game can make: The A.I. isn?t good at its game. Your foes don?t do a good job of using its systems ? like combat ? against you, ultimately providing a limited challenged against a skilled player. And for the demanding fans of strategy games, this is a tactic that just doesn?t work.

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Mass Effect 3?s ending

Intern Jason Lomberg

From an artistic standpoint, my biggest disappointment was that developer BioWare pulled a George Lucas and ?fixed? the ending. That?s not how it should work ? you don?t ?fix? art.

A piece of art represents the succinct vision of its creator. It?s also a product of its time and, therefore, a cultural artifact. The best films ? like Star Wars ? engender a certain timeless quality, but even so, it?s not hard to discern that Lucas?s masterpiece reflects the norms and attitudes of the ?70s. By mucking with his own creations to ?update? the special effects or modify story elements, Lucas is destroying a piece of history. This is why fans reacted so negatively to Star Wars: Special Edition (and the innumerable ?updates? before and since), and it?s why BioWare should not have changed the Mass Effect 3 ending. For gaming to take its rightful place among other artistic media, it shouldn?t be so malleable and subject to ?revision.? Numerous gamers took issue with the game?s ending ? and I?d be hard-pressed to disagree ? but we should criticize ME3 as a piece of art, not a software program that its makers can patch. We should analyze the creator?s vision and not treat it like a technical glitch.

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Assassin?s Creed III: Liberation

Intern Mike Minotti

I was excited to have a real Assassin?s Creed experience on a portable system, and I was hoping that such a game could be a great showcase for the?PlayStation Vita. Sadly, Liberation was a boring, uninspired slog through the bog hampered by technical problems and an empty open world.

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Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask

Intern Evan Killham

Developer Level-5?s series of puzzle-driven adventure games sold me both a Nintendo DS and a 3DS. I love everything about them: the full-on animated cutscenes, the stories, and even the bizarre idea of a universe in which brain-teasers work as a sort of social currency. But I?m not sure what happened with the franchise?s fifth installment. The plot and style are as good as ever, but the riddles in this one are inexplicably obtuse at times (I?m convinced that one challenge?s ?clever? solution is not a valid answer to the setup) and blatantly not puzzles at others. A maze, for example, is not a puzzle by my definition, and this Professor Layton contains several of them.

Miracle Mask is the first Layton game that has felt like a chore.

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XCOM?s lack of longevity

Contributing editor Rob Savillo

A game about saving the world from an alien invasion is probably beyond clich? at this point. You?d think that such a premise would doom the entire experience to a single playthrough, never to be touched again. But this wasn?t the case with the original X-Com strategy games, where I felt like anything could happen at any time. My first encounter could be the?extraterrestrial?menace terrorizing an urban populace or a dogfight with high-flying UFO that segues into a ground assault or even a struggle for survival within the supposedly safe confines of my only operational headquarters! Add in a healthy dose of pseudo-randomization, and X-Com felt fresh over and over no matter how many campaigns I played.

But Developer Firaxis? recent reboot, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, unfortunately starts to feel all too similar all too quickly. Even during your first game, you?ll see the same premade maps again and again. Some missions feel scripted (even featuring monster closets!) and like long, narrow hallways (I don?t ever want to play the final stage again because it?s such a boring slog). I?m convinced that Firaxis doesn?t really want me to play another campaign, which is crystal clear because the game forces me to listen to the same?unskippable?explanatory voiceovers with every new start.

After well over 100 hours, I?m just about done with XCOM. And it shouldn?t have been this way.

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Zynga?s belly-flop

Editor-in-chief Dan ?Shoe? Hsu

Zynga was supposed to be the next big thing in gaming, but then it flopped ? hard. Its stock became the joke of the industry (currently: $2.39, down from $9.50 at the initial public offering and a peak of $14.69 back in March, and rather than make a bunch of new Silicon Valley millionaires, it had to lay people off. Not many people are rooting for the company that regularly spams Facebook walls. But when the guys leading the charge for social gaming fails that badly, it?s a very bad sign for the health of the business as a whole.

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Nearly everything?Resident Evil

Intern Jasmine Rea

This year, I found myself sympathizing with legions of Sonic the Hedgehog fans because at our core, we are far too loyal for our own good. Like them, I go into every Resident Evil game with the same naive hope that the series isn?t spiraling the drain. Operation Raccoon City and Resident Evil 6 were nearly enough to make me give up on playing any console-based entries in the series. Poor execution, tedious gameplay, and wretched quick-time events have finally broken me. I?ll go into 2013 with a dull ache for another Resident Evil: Revelations, but I doubt I?ll get that.

Will I buy the inevitable Resident Evil 7? Of course I will, and that?s why gin exists.

Source: http://venturebeat.com/2012/12/24/biggest-disappointments-of-2012/

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US citizen killed by Afghan policewoman in Kabul

By Akbar Shinwari, NBC News

A U.S. citizen was killed inside Kabul?s police headquarters when a policewoman opened fire in apparent ?insider? attack, officials told NBC News on Monday.

The victim, a logistics adviser to the Kabul police, was severely wounded and died on Monday in the office of the local police chief, according to Mohammad Zahir, head of the criminal investigation department.

Zahir described the incident as an ?insider attack? in which Afghan forces turn their weapons on Western military they are supposed to be working with.?

What's leading Afghan troops to turn on coalition forces?

A spokesman for the NATO forces in Afghanistan told Reuters: ?A U.S. police adviser was killed in an attack by an Afghan policewoman.?

No further details were immediately available.

Earlier this year, U.S. military officials briefly suspended the training of Afghan Local Police (ALP) in the wake of a deadly series of insider killings, also known as ?green on blue? attacks.

A blast killed 10 Afghan girls who were collecting firewood in eastern Afghanistan, according to government officials. In a separate incident, two Afghans died in an attack in Kabul. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

More world stories from NBC News:

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Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/24/16119008-us-citizen-killed-by-afghan-policewoman-in-insider-attack?lite

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Police: NY gunman set 'trap' for firefighters

This image taken from video provided by WHAM13-TV, shows a wide view of homes on fire in an area where a gunman ambushed four volunteer firefighters responding to an intense pre-dawn house fire early Monday, Dec. 24, 2012, in Webster, N.Y., killing two before ending up dead himself, authorities said. Police used an armored vehicle to evacuate more than 30 nearby residents. (AP Photo/WHAM13-TV via AP video)

This image taken from video provided by WHAM13-TV, shows a wide view of homes on fire in an area where a gunman ambushed four volunteer firefighters responding to an intense pre-dawn house fire early Monday, Dec. 24, 2012, in Webster, N.Y., killing two before ending up dead himself, authorities said. Police used an armored vehicle to evacuate more than 30 nearby residents. (AP Photo/WHAM13-TV via AP video)

A house burns Monday, Dec. 24, 2012 in Webster, New York. An ex-con set a car and a house ablaze in his lakeside neighborhood to lure firefighters, then opened fire on them, killing two, engaging in a shootout with police and committing suicide while several homes burned. Authorities used an armored vehicle to evacuate the area. (AP Photo/Democrat & Chronicle, Jamie Germano)

A house burns Monday, Dec. 24, 2012 in Webster, New York. A former convict set a house and car ablaze in his lakeside New York state neighborhood to lure firefighters then opened fire on them, killing two and engaging police in a shootout before killing himself while several homes burned. Authorities used an armored vehicle to evacuate the area. (AP Photo/Democrat & Chronicle, Jamie Germano)

Police officers move in to look for a man who set fire to a house, Monday, Dec. 24, 2012 in Webster, New York. A former convict set a house and car ablaze in his lakeside New York state neighborhood to lure firefighters then opened fire on them, killing two and engaging police in a shootout before killing himself while several homes burned. Authorities used an armored vehicle to evacuate the area. (AP Photo/Democrat & Chronicle, Jamie Germano)

Lake Rd. residents are evacuated from the neighborhood, Monday, Dec. 24, 2012 in Webster, New York. A former convict set a house and car ablaze in his lakeside New York state neighborhood to lure firefighters then opened fire on them, killing two and engaging police in a shootout before killing himself while several homes burned. Authorities used an armored vehicle to evacuate the area. (AP Photo/Democrat & Chronicle, Max Schulte)

WEBSTER, N.Y. (AP) ? An ex-con gunned down two firefighters after luring them to his neighborhood by setting a car and a house ablaze early Monday, then took shots at police and committed suicide while several homes burned.

Authorities used an armored vehicle to help residents flee dozens of homes on the shore of Lake Ontario a day before Christmas. Police restricted access to the neighborhood, and officials said it was unclear whether there were other bodies in the seven houses left to burn.

The gunman's sister, who lived with him, was unaccounted for. The gunman's motive was unknown.

William Spengler fired at the four firefighters when they arrived shortly after 5:30 a.m. at the blaze in Webster, a suburb of Rochester, town police Chief Gerald Pickering said. The first police officer who arrived chased the gunman and exchanged shots.

Spengler lay in wait outdoors for the firefighters' arrival, then opened fire probably with a rifle and from atop an earthen berm, Pickering said.

"It does appear it was a trap," he said.

Spengler had served more than 17 years in prison for beating his 92-year-old paternal grandmother to death with a hammer in 1980 at the house next to where Monday's attack happened, Pickering said. Spengler, 62, was paroled in 1998 and had led a quiet life since, authorities said. Convicted felons are not allowed to possess weapons.

Two firefighters, one of whom also was a town police lieutenant, died at the scene, and two others were hospitalized. An off-duty officer who was passing by also was injured.

Another police officer, the one who exchanged gunfire with Spengler, "in all likelihood saved many lives," Pickering said.

Emergency radio communications capture someone saying he "could see the muzzle flash coming at me" as Spengler carried out his ambush. The audio posted on the website RadioReference.com has someone reporting "firefighters are down" and saying "got to be rifle or shotgun ? high powered ... semi or fully auto."

Spengler lived in the house with his sister, Cheryl Spengler, and his mother, Arline Spengler, who died in October. He had originally been charged with murder in connection with grandmother Rose Spengler's death but pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter.

A friend said William Spengler didn't seem violent but hated his sister. Roger Vercruysse lived next door to Spengler and recalled a man who doted on his mother, whose obituary suggested contributions to the West Webster Fire Department.

"He loved his mama to death," said Vercruysse, who last saw his friend about six months ago. "I think after his mama passed, he went crazy."

Vercruysse also said Spengler "couldn't stand his sister" and "stayed on one side of the house and she stayed on the other."

The West Webster Fire District learned of the fire early Monday after a report of a car and house on fire on Lake Road, on a narrow peninsula where Irondequoit Bay meets Lake Ontario, Monroe County Sheriff Patrick O'Flynn said.

The fire appeared from a distance as a pulsating ball of flame glowing against the early morning sky, flames licking into treetops and reflecting on the water, with huge bursts of smoke billowing away in a brisk wind.

Two of the firefighters arrived on a fire engine and two in their own vehicles, Pickering said. After Spengler fired, one of the wounded men fled, but the other three couldn't because of flying gunfire.

A police armored vehicle was used to recover two men, and eventually it removed 33 people from nearby homes, the police chief said. The gunfire initially kept firefighters from battling the blazes.

The dead men were identified as police Lt. Michael Chiapperini, 43, the Webster Police Department's public information officer; and 19-year-old Tomasz Kaczowka, also a 911 dispatcher.

Pickering described Chiapperini as a "lifetime firefighter" with nearly 20 years in the department, and he called Kaczowka a "tremendous young man."

Kaczowka's brother, reached at the family home Monday night, said he didn't want to talk.

The two wounded firefighters, Joseph Hofstetter and Theodore Scardino, were in guarded condition in the intensive care unit at Strong Memorial Hospital, authorities said. Both were awake and alert and are expected to recover.

Hofstetter, also a full-timer with the Rochester Fire Department, was hit once in the pelvis, and the bullet lodged in his spine, authorities said. Scardino was hit in the chest and knee.

At West Webster Fire Station 1, there were at least 20 bouquets on a bench in front and a bouquet of roses with three gold-and-white ribbons saying, "May they rest in peace," ''In the line of duty" and "In memory of our fallen brothers."

A handwritten sign says, "Thanks for protecting us, RIP." Two candles were lit to honor the dead.

Grieving firefighters declined to talk to reporters. At an impromptu memorial vigil Monday evening, about 100 people stood in the cold night air, some holding candles. A fire department spokesman made a brief appearance, thanked them all and told them to go home and appreciate their families.

Cathy Bartlett was there with her teenage son, who was good friends with Kaczowka. Bartlett's husband, Mark Bartlett, has been a firefighter there for 25 years but missed the call this morning.

"Thank God my husband slept through the first alarm and didn't get up until the second one went off," she said.

The shooting and fires were in a neighborhood of seasonal and year-round homes set close together across the road from the lakeshore. The area is popular with recreational boaters but is normally quiet this time of year.

"We have very few calls for service in that location," Pickering said. "Webster is a tremendous community. We are a safe community, and to have a tragedy befall us like this is just horrendous."

O'Flynn lamented the violence, which comes on the heels of other shootings including the massacre of 20 students and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

"It's sad to see that this is becoming more commonplace in communities across the nation," O'Flynn said.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the State Police and Office of Emergency Management were working with local authorities.

"Volunteer firefighters and police officers were injured and two were taken from us as they once again answered the call of duty," Cuomo said in a statement. "We as the community of New York mourn their loss as now two more families must spend the holidays without their loved ones."

Webster, a middle-class suburb, now is the scene of violence linked to house fires for two Decembers in a row.

Last Dec. 7, authorities say, a 15-year-old boy doused his home with gasoline and set it ablaze, killing his father and two brothers, 16 and 12. His mother and 13-year-old sister escaped with injuries. He is being prosecuted as an adult.

___

Associated Press writers Chris Carola, George Walsh and Mary Esch in Albany contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-12-24-Fire-Shooting/id-149833b4c1104b46918ccba0299e5646

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LG's 2013 Google TV sets to come in more sizes, fresher designs

LG only experimented with a Google TV lineup in 2012; for 2013, it's committing to the concept in earnest. The 47- and 55-inch sizes we know today should be joined by 42-, 50- and 60-inch models that cater both to frugal viewers and those who like to live large. We should also see the spruced-up designs that come with yearly updates, including newer zero-bezel frames and distinctive stands. We're less surprised by input and software updates -- all of the new screens will ship with voice-enabled Google TV and OnLive support from the get-go, and the company's multi-talented Magic Remote is making its return. LG is remaining coy on further details beyond promising a release sometime in the first half of 2013, although there's a good chance we'll know more in Las Vegas.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Google, LG

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Source: LG (translated)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/23/lg-2013-google-tv-sets-to-come-in-more-sizes-fresher-designs/

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Egypt's liberals decry "shadow" of the Brotherhood

CAIRO (Reuters) - Director Khaled Youssef took on the establishment with his films before Hosni Mubarak's police state was brought down and now believes the arts can challenge the Islamists ruling Egypt after the revolution.

"Art will contribute greatly, just as it did in overthrowing Mubarak's regime," said Youssef, who has joined the opposition campaign against a constitution drafted by an Islamist assembly that is on the verge of becoming the basis for Egypt's laws.

The constitution, fast-tracked to a referendum by President Mohamed Mursi, has exposed the deep rifts between Egypt's Islamists and a rival camp of leftists, liberals, Christians and more moderate Muslims, at odds about how to shape the new nation.

The basic law won 57 percent of the vote in the first round and is now expected to pass through a second round on Saturday. The opposition camp says the document's failure to win a ringing endorsement shows just how divisive it is.

"No constitution is forced on half of a nation oppressively and forcefully," said Youssef, 48, a leftist member of the opposition Popular Current party.

Islamists, who have won every vote since Mubarak was ousted in February 2011, although by shrinking margins, say the constitution must be passed to complete the transition to democracy and Egypt's laws and codes should be based on Islamic principles to reflect the wishes of a Muslim-majority nation.

For liberal-minded Muslims like Youssef, whose camp has struggled to organise against the disciplined ranks of Islamists, that vision means sidelining the rights of Christians, who make up a tenth of Egypt's 83 million people, women and others who see Egypt as a diverse nation and a cultural leader in the Arab world.

"This constitution is heading to the dustbin of history," said the director whose films sought to highlight the nation's slide into poverty under Mubarak and have annoyed Islamists with plots that tackle taboo issues such as sex.

FIGHT ON ITS HANDS

Rights groups say the constitution does not include enough explicit protection for women's rights and point to vague language, such as references to "national" morals. Liberals fear this means religious conservatives will use it to impose social restrictions that could hurt women, minorities and the arts.

The document has a distinctly Islamist flavor. While the source of legislation remains "the principles" of Islamic sharia as in the old text, a new provision adds further details on what that would mean. Another article says Al-Azhar mosque and university, a seat of Sunni Muslim learning, must be consulted on "matters related to the Islamic sharia".

"Under the shadow of the Brotherhood and extremist groups the future of all Egyptians will no doubt be dark," said Fatma Naoot, 48, a poet and columnist, who often speaks out on women's issues and defends the arts against censorship.

Naoot, a liberal Muslim, refers to some of the radical preachers who are now common faces on television as "strangers" to Egyptians, adding: "But I am confident that Egypt will return to us soon."

Defeating the constitution in the referendum now looks beyond the opposition. Their next battle will be a parliamentary election likely in early 2013. The last parliament, dissolved in June, was dominated by Islamists.

Islamists bore the brunt of Mubarak's repressive police state, but liberals and leftists fared little better. Some groups were co-opted, others were harried and their anti-Mubarak protests were routinely crushed by baton-wielding police.

The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in 1928, can draw on a social support and charity network it built up over eight decades, even as its members were jailed. The opposition have not yet matched that, even if groups like the Popular Current and Mohamed ElBaradei's Constitution Party are expanding their reach.

"The Brotherhood faction and the extremist religious groups, are unfortunately only ruled by a sense of revenge for the 80 years (they spent) visualizing and longing for power," said Naoot.

Like Youssef, she has become a regular guest on fiercely argumentative talk shows, lining up against Islamists. The shows have become nightly battle grounds on Egypt's future.

"A woman in the eyes of those seated on the chair of power now is merely a 'thing' that has no decision or will," she said, pointing to Egypt's ancient history with its women leaders and female goddesses, and mentioning that in more modern times one of the earliest female aviators was Egyptian.

DIVISIONS

"Egypt will move on the right path if people stay strong and united in the face of Brotherhood fascism," she said, using the kind of fierce language that has become more common as the political battle lines have hardened.

Both sides employed fiery terms. In a call for a protest in Alexandria this Friday in response to clashes between Islamists and their opponents last week, a Brotherhood official referred to the "ugly face of secularism with its animosity to Islam."

Islamists also say their actions are not seeking to smother the views of others but claim they reflect majority opinion, in a nation where most women are veiled, although that dress code does not indicate political allegiance.

Divisions, they say, are the normal way of politics.

"The whole world is divided and that does not mean the world will enter into global wars," Brotherhood official Essam el-Erian told Reuters after the first-round vote. "Division in any vote doesn't mean the start of a civil war or chaos."

But the Brotherhood's opponents say a constitution should not drive a wedge through a nation because it is meant to reflect the principles of governance not partisan politics.

They also say support for Mursi and his group may be ebbing away. A referendum on a temporary constitution, a parliamentary vote and a presidential election in the past two years suggest at least some slippage in support for Islamists.

The National Salvation Front, an opposition coalition formed after Mursi expanded his powers on November 22 and then pushed through the constitution, has drawn tens of thousands on to the streets to oppose the referendum, although has not managed it with the regularity of Islamists.

Hassan Nafaa, a liberal activist and political science professor, was among voters who plumped for Mursi in the presidential run-off race in June when the alternative was Ahmed Shafik, an ex-military man and former prime minister under Mubarak. Mursi won with 52 percent of the vote.

But Nafaa said Mursi had turned to his own group and ignored other Egyptians, even members of the opposition who had backed him in his election. He said the president was simply dismissing the opposition as "liberals (who) do not have any real weight among the population".

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-liberals-decry-shadow-brotherhood-123941343.html

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Occupy LA sues city over mass detentions

Mark Boster / Pool via Reuters

Los Angeles Police Department officers arrest an Occupy LA protester at the encampment at City Hall on Nov. 30, 2011.

By Jason Kandel, NBCLosAngeles.com

LOS ANGELES -- Occupy Los Angeles demonstrators are suing the city for what they said was an unlawful ?shock and awe? attack on their civil rights when 1,400 police officers swept nearly 300 demonstrators from City Hall grounds more than a year ago.

The Nov. 30, 2011 arrests at Los Angeles City Hall came after an eight-week encampment aligned with the Occupy Wall Street movement calling attention to ?bailouts for Wall Street and foreclosures for Main Street.?

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Five people are suing in a class action lawsuit that represents 292 people detained by officers in the raid. Court documents said those arrested were denied food and water for hours while being detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center downtown, at a jail in Van Nuys or on a bus en route to the lockup.

Some were forced to urinate on themselves after being denied access to restrooms, court documents allege.

Three of the five people suing are members of or participants in the Occupy Los Angeles movement. One person was a videographer not associated with the Occupy protests but who was videotaping the officers during the incident. He claims he was arrested even after he said he complied with officers? orders to disperse.

The fifth person is a reporter for the left-wing radio station KPFK who was detained when he decided to stay with the protesters during the arrests, court records said.

More from NBCLosAngeles.com:?
Floral Farms Rally to Bring Rose Parade Back to its Roots

One of the women suing claimed in court papers that an officer pinched her nipple and inner thigh as part of a ?pain compliance? technique during the arrests and she suffered bruises to her body.

The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Los Angeles on Thursday, said arrestees were forced to urinate and defecate on themselves while handcuffed while en route on a bus to the lockup.

The lawsuit names the city and county of LA, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and LAPD Chief Charlie Beck.

The Mayor?s Office did not return a message on Saturday. An LAPD spokeswoman said the department doesn?t comment on pending litigation.

Court documents: Read the complaint

The case stems from the sweep on Nov. 30 of City Hall by some 1,400 police officers, that the protesters said in court documents was dubbed by Beck ?shock and awe,? a reference made famous by former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Jason Redmond / Reuters

Police stand guard after removing protesters from the Occupy LA encampment outside City Hall in Los Angeles on Nov. 30, 2011.

The protesters said they were ejected from City Hall lawn in an ?unprecedented show of force by the LAPD.?

?The only weapon plaintiffs had in this instance was the First Amendment,? wrote Carol Sobel, in the lawsuit. She was part of a law firm that won a nearly $13 million settlement against LA for a police response to an immigrants' rights march on May Day 2007 at MacArthur Park.

The Occupy demonstrators were swept off the City Hall lawn after a two-month encampment and growing fears by city officials of crime and public health threats. Villaraigosa made references during a press conference days before the raid to the presence of children at the protest site as a reason to sweep the demonstrators out.

As many as 500 men, women and children were estimated to have camped out on the City Hall lawn, some in tents and other makeshift homes, city officials said.

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/23/16108786-occupy-la-sues-city-over-mass-detentions-by-police?lite

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lern2play Resources and Information. This website is for sale!

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Turn your iPad into a games console with Joypad ... - iMore.com

If you yearn for the days when you had a console plugged into your TV and a gamepad to play it with then this particular app combo may be for you. The guys at Joypad have released two apps that work hand in hand to deliver a console like experience to iPad and iPhone or iPod touch users. You install the Joypad Game Console on your iPad and the Joypad Game Controller on your iPhone or iPod touch.

Joypad Game Console is your dashboard for all Joypad Enabled games. Joypad Enabled games can be played on your iPad using your iPhone as the game controller. Install this app on your iPad, then install "Joypad Game Controller" on your iPhone. The two applications will find each other over WiFi and sync up. A controller will appear on your phone, which you can use to navigate the dashboard. When you launch a game, a controller specifically built for that game will appear. Plug your iPad into a TV for an even better experience.

Once you have the two free apps installed you can scroll through a number of games using your iPhone and then you will have to buy them within the app if you want to play them. The list isn?t too bad at launch with a good selection of playable games. The developers of the Joypad app combo have also released an SDK to allow game other developers to offer support for the Joypad Game Console and Joypad Game Controller. This is where the success of the apps will be determined; if there is a good take up and other developers support the apps then this could be an excellent solution.

Can you see yourself using a system like this? If you try it out, let us know what you think!

Source: http://www.imore.com/turn-your-ipad-games-console-joypad-games-console-and-controller

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