After Hinting Otherwise, Huckabee Says He Won?t Run for President

?All the factors say go, but my heart says no,? Mr. Huckabee said on his nighttime program on Fox News Channel. ?And that?s the decision that I have made.?

As of Saturday afternoon, even some of Mr. Huckabee?s closest aides did not know what he would say. He kept them waiting as long as possible, making the announcement at the very end of his hourlong 8 p.m. program after interviewing guests including the ?Extra? host Mario Lopez and the rock musician Ted Nugent ? with whom he jammed on Mr. Nugent?s old hit song ?Cat Scratch Fever.? (Mr. Huckabee plays the bass guitar).

Even during his statement, Mr. Huckabee hinted that perhaps he would run. ?The past few weeks, the external signs and signals and answers to many of the obstacles point strongly toward running,? he said after citing his strength in recent polls and what he said were hints of strong financial support for any run he might make.

But, he said, upon reflection he realized that ?under the best of circumstances, being president is a job that takes one to the limit of his or her human capacity. For me to do it apart from an inner confidence that I was undertaking it with God?s full blessing is simply unthinkable.?

Mr. Huckabee had been showing strong poll numbers, among some of the strongest of his party?s possible contenders.

His decision helps bring the fluid field of prospective Republican presidential candidates a step closer to solidifying, eliminating one possible ? and most likely potent ? contender from the mix, but leaving several other highly anticipated announcements outstanding, starting with those of Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana and former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska.

Former Gov. Jon M. Huntsman Jr. of Utah, who recently left his post as President Obama?s ambassador to China, is said to be seriously considering a run and is making moves that seem to indicate he is leaning toward doing so.

John R. Bolton, a former ambassador to the United Nations, said in a brief interview Saturday night that Mr. Huckabee?s announcement made him more likely to enter the race. ?Anyone else considering it has to get serious about it,? he said.

(An aide to Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota said Friday that she would be more likely to run, as well, if Mr. Huckabee decided against doing so.)

Had Mr. Huckabee entered the race, he would have been filling a perceptible void in the Republican field by becoming the presumed candidate of evangelicals, whose social issues have been largely swept aside as both parties focus most acutely on the economy and government spending.

Mr. Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister and veteran of religious broadcasting, has carefully maintained ties to his colleagues in the religious sphere.

?He knows our issues backward and forward, and he knows our people backward and forward because he is one of them,? said the Rev. Richard D. Land, the president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Mr. Huckabee?s decision to forgo a run for president presumably leaves that space wide open for Ms. Palin, a self-described ?Bible-believing Christian,? should she jump into the race.

Still, Dr. Land said there were candidates already running who could and would address the critical evangelical constituency, among them the former House speaker Newt Gingrich ? who has been actively reaching out to Christian groups ? and former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, who has been outspoken against same-sex marriage and about other conservative social causes.

Still, evangelicals have yet to rally to the side of any of the candidates thus far. In that regard, they resemble the party in general. ?It?s anyone?s game at this point,? said Matthew Dowd, a former political adviser to President George W. Bush.

Jeff Zeleny contributed reporting.

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Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=1060586956dca4e22399db109854b582

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Hardware 23 - Socket to 'em

Hardware 23 - Socket to 'em

Posted on 9th May 2011 at 11:49 by Podcast with 5 comments

This week, Clive, Harry, Paul and Antony discuss Folding@home, going through what it's all about and what hardware you should be using to generate the most points per day.

Also on the agenda are some of our thoughts about factory-overclocked graphics cards. We discuss where in the market these provide real value, and when you?d be better of trading up to a better GPU altogether.

Harry also treats us all to a very long comprehensive run down of the current state of the SSD market, and what developments we can expect to see there over the next few months.

Finally, we take a look at AMD?s soon to be retired Phenom brand, and discuss what AMD got right and wrong with this chip-generation. We also take a look back at the conclusions we drew from our first experiences with Phenom-branded processors, and how our thoughts back then compare to our thoughts now.


As always, we've also set up our weekly competition, the lucky winner of which will walk away with a Speedlink Strike FX wireless gamepad. This gamepad is compatible with both the PC and PlayStation 3, and functions at distances of up to 10m.

As ever, the bit-tech hardware podcast features music by Brad Sucks, and was recorded on Shure microphones. You can download the podcast direct, listen in-browser or subscribe through iTunes using the links below. Also, be sure to let us know your thoughts about the discussion in the forums.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bit-tech/blog/~3/8iYhEN5vDa4/

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After Hinting Otherwise, Huckabee Says He Won?t Run for President

?All the factors say go, but my heart says no,? Mr. Huckabee said on his nighttime program on Fox News Channel. ?And that?s the decision that I have made.?

As of Saturday afternoon, even some of Mr. Huckabee?s closest aides did not know what he would say. He kept them waiting as long as possible, making the announcement at the very end of his hourlong 8 p.m. program after interviewing guests including the ?Extra? host Mario Lopez and the rock musician Ted Nugent ? with whom he jammed on Mr. Nugent?s old hit song ?Cat Scratch Fever.? (Mr. Huckabee plays the bass guitar).

Even during his statement, Mr. Huckabee hinted that perhaps he would run. ?The past few weeks, the external signs and signals and answers to many of the obstacles point strongly toward running,? he said after citing his strength in recent polls and what he said were hints of strong financial support for any run he might make.

But, he said, upon reflection he realized that ?under the best of circumstances, being president is a job that takes one to the limit of his or her human capacity. For me to do it apart from an inner confidence that I was undertaking it with God?s full blessing is simply unthinkable.?

Mr. Huckabee had been showing strong poll numbers, among some of the strongest of his party?s possible contenders.

His decision helps bring the fluid field of prospective Republican presidential candidates a step closer to solidifying, eliminating one possible ? and most likely potent ? contender from the mix, but leaving several other highly anticipated announcements outstanding, starting with those of Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana and former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska.

Former Gov. Jon M. Huntsman Jr. of Utah, who recently left his post as President Obama?s ambassador to China, is said to be seriously considering a run and is making moves that seem to indicate he is leaning toward doing so.

John R. Bolton, a former ambassador to the United Nations, said in a brief interview Saturday night that Mr. Huckabee?s announcement made him more likely to enter the race. ?Anyone else considering it has to get serious about it,? he said.

(An aide to Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota said Friday that she would be more likely to run, as well, if Mr. Huckabee decided against doing so.)

Had Mr. Huckabee entered the race, he would have been filling a perceptible void in the Republican field by becoming the presumed candidate of evangelicals, whose social issues have been largely swept aside as both parties focus most acutely on the economy and government spending.

Mr. Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister and veteran of religious broadcasting, has carefully maintained ties to his colleagues in the religious sphere.

?He knows our issues backward and forward, and he knows our people backward and forward because he is one of them,? said the Rev. Richard D. Land, the president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Mr. Huckabee?s decision to forgo a run for president presumably leaves that space wide open for Ms. Palin, a self-described ?Bible-believing Christian,? should she jump into the race.

Still, Dr. Land said there were candidates already running who could and would address the critical evangelical constituency, among them the former House speaker Newt Gingrich ? who has been actively reaching out to Christian groups ? and former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, who has been outspoken against same-sex marriage and about other conservative social causes.

Still, evangelicals have yet to rally to the side of any of the candidates thus far. In that regard, they resemble the party in general. ?It?s anyone?s game at this point,? said Matthew Dowd, a former political adviser to President George W. Bush.

Jeff Zeleny contributed reporting.

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Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=1060586956dca4e22399db109854b582

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The 7 Social Media Marketing Essentials for Brands

Social media is changing in front of our eyes. It?s still a very new discipline but companies and brands are embracing it across the board in a number of ways. It can be easy to become distracted by all the new technologies and some people don?t know where to start or how to make a difference with their social media marketing.

With that in mind we wanted to create a list of seven key areas that we think all businesses and brands should be spending their time on. Yes the headings are broad and there are a hundred things you could be trying within each section but if you improved your company?s performance across these 7 areas you would start to see real tangible results. It can be easy to get caught up in all the hype and move from one platform to another trying to follow the trends but have a little focus, hone in on these clear goals and you will be in a far better place?

Internal Communications

The tools are available to help improve how you talk to each other within your company. Companies that communicate well internally will more often than not have far better results. I?m always amazed at the lack of communication internally but with a new range of tools available to us all there really isn?t any excuse any longer. Try out Yammer, Convofy, SocialCast, Campfire, Facebook groups or instant messaging tools like Skype or Google chat to get the best out of your company. The smart companies are adding a social layer to their entire business and putting as big a focus on internal communications as external comms. Make sure that your company has excellent social media guidelines to allow staff to talk about where they work and the benefits of working there. The days of control where upper management decided what was projected in to public domain about your company are long gone and every single one of your staff now have a voice thanks to social media.

Branded Content

It?s not enough trying to create engaging updates or throw up the odd picture on social media channels. If you are really serious about engaging with a community you?ll need to start thinking about branded content and how to seed it within the communities that you have access to. This could be anything from videos and websites to blogs or podcasts and the most important thing about branded content is creating something that the consumer has genuine interest in. We all know how to filter ads out these days and the savvy consumer is looking for new ways to engage with brands. Content should be at the very center of everything you do and spending time and money developing branded content is a route most brands and businesses should be going down. If you want to see the masters of branded content have a look at this video or others from Red Bull. Now you won?t have their budgets for creating content but it?s an important part of social media now and one your company should be trying to engage with.

Stunning Customer Service

There is no reason why you should?t be talking to your customers in this day and age. The tools are there from Twitter and Facebook to Linkedin or forums and the smart brands are talking to their customers and solving problems to build positive word of mouth. The businesses doing this well are actually being proactive via social media channels and finding the problems and putting out the fires before they go any further. The upside of creating advocates through stunning social media customer service is that they all have the power to tell 100s of friends about their positive experiences. Being proactive and engaging with your customers on 3rd party channels rather than waiting for them to come to you is the key.

Ignore Facebook At Your Peril

Websites come and go. Look at Myspace and Bebo as classic examples. Many think Facebook will have a similar fall from grace one day and that we will move on to the next big thing but to think like that would be foolish. You need to think of Facebook not as a website but as a platform which will become as important as the internet or Google itself. Facebook is starting to force it?s way on to websites, it?s being built in to the core of mobile phones and soon you?ll be buying stuff through there and it will influence search results. Facebook is not going away any time soon and while you should always have a broad approach and not have all your eggs in one basket I?d advise people to spend a decent percentage of their time and money marketing via Facebook. It?s only going to get bigger and more important.

Transparency

It?s getting harder and harder to spin a story about your company that is not accurate or glosses over the truth. Brands and businesses have to be more transparent than they ever have in the past and consumers and the man in the the street has as much say in a brand as people working within the company. It?s a seismic shift away from the days when control was key and the message could be tailored to suit the goals of the company. There have been countless social media disasters and many of them arise from companies trying to bend the truth or cover something up. Social media is bringing a whole new level of transparency to business and for the consumer that can only be a good thing.

Adapting To Technology And Being Nimble

Trends change in social media circles quicker than you could imagine. While it is important not to jump from trend to trend without achieving anything it?s also important to be nimble and have your marketing strategy evolve over time. In the past placing an advert in a newspaper was always pretty much the same process but marketing on Facebook can change from week to week as the platform evolves. Twitter doesn?t even have an effective ad platform yet but chances are you could be using it next year. You need to look at new platforms like the tablet computer which although less than 2 years old is creating a seismic shift in our online habits. These new technologies and platforms seem to come out of nowhere and they can change entire industries within a year so be nimble and evolve your strategy because consumers might not always be in the same place.

Mobile Mobile Mobile

If you don?t have some sort of mobile strategy for your business or brand then you better start moving fast. Consumers are moving away from newspapers and magazines and embracing smart phones and tablets. Have a look around at other people on the next bus or train you are on and you?ll see people peering in to their mobiles. People are finding deals on the go and they are researching products on their mobiles. We?re only at the very start of this journey and as tools like location aware advertising and local deals take hold over the next year it?s clear that you would be a fool if you hadn?t at least started to put some thought in to the area of mobile.

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Source: http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2011/05/14/the-7-social-media-marketing-essentials-for-brands/

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Weekend Open Forum: Would you get a Chrome OS laptop?

Earlier this week Google announced the culmination of its CR-48 pilot program: two Chrome OS-powered notebooks manufactured by Acer and Samsung. Priced at $349 and $429, respectively, they are admittedly pricier than I was anticipating but Google will also offer leasing plans from $20 per month for students and businesses.

Although spec-wise they are par for the course, what's interesting is the fact that they offer a glimpse at the future Google envisions: one where all your computing is done hassle-free through the browser.

In their view, Windows is too much of a pain to use and maintain for regular folks who just want to get online. With Chrome OS there's no loading programs on startup, no need for software updates or virus protection, and all your stuff is saved 'in the cloud' so there's no need for local storage. Google is the first to admit that they are betting on a paradigm shift and even their introductory video ends with a voice that says: "I wonder if people are ready for this?"

Indeed many web applications already run well enough to replace some of their desktop counterparts and even complex tasks such as gaming are being enabled by projects like OnLive. With that in mind we want to ask you: would you be interested in getting a Chrome OS laptop, even if just as a secondary machine? What would you consider the sweet spot in terms of price? Vote and let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Would you get a Chrome OS notebook?survey software

 

 

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Source: http://www.techspot.com/news/43796-weekend-open-forum-would-you-get-a-chrome-os-laptop.html

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Carcassonne iPad Review

Carcassonne iPad Review

Posted on 7th May 2011 at 10:18 by David Hing with 10 comments

The iPad is an ideal platform for board games. It's large enough for more than one person to sit round it for a local game without feeling stupid, and its touchscreen is sizeable enough to make it practical to move pieces, even if you have chubby fingers. Thus, it was only a matter of time before classic board games such as Carcassonne jumped to the platform.

The game itself is easy to learn, and is mostly based around the idea of developing the areas around the titular French town. At higher levels, though, the strategies and tactics involved can become enormously complex, although this iPad version eases you in with spoken tutorials and a full digital manual. It takes very little time to get to grips with the mechanics, with only a few references back to the documentation, and the interface is kept gloriously pristine.

There are a few different basic game-types, including a Solitaire mode that follows slightly adapted rules to the core game, plus online, local and AI matches.


The developers have done an excellent job in rendering the tiles and pieces, managing to retain the feel of a board game while still making the most of the digital format. None of the graphics feel out of place and everything emulates the physical version perfectly, with a decently tactile quality provided by the ability to drag pieces around the board.

As a game itself, Carcassonne is excellent to play with a couple of friends sat around the iPad. It wouldn't be completely out of the question to use this instead of setting out a full boxed copy of the game, as it?s so easy to pass the iPad around a circle. Of course, this version will never completely replicate the physical version, but it's solid enough to at least sit on par with it.


Online matches are a slightly more troublesome affair, however. The app apparently match-makes according to skill, but it was hard to tell whether or not this was happening, as most of the games ended with an opponent mysteriously disappearing the second it looked like the game might not be going their way.

We found ourselves mostly playing against the AI opponents supplied with the game, which are broken down into Easy, Strong, Weird, Evil and Simple behaviour types. Although it isn't always clear how the Strong AI improves over the Easy AI, the Evil AI can teach you a couple of nasty tricks if you're paying attention. You?ll often find yourself cursing and softly swearing at.

Verdict
This is a beautifully realised portable version of a very well constructed board game. Even if you haven't played the original, this is a brilliant introduction that's much cheaper than buying the full boxed version. Recommended!

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Antarctic Ice Divers

Last November, a team of scientists, funded by the National Science Foundation, began using a pair of autonomous robotic vehicles to gather an information from beneath the Ross Ice Shelf in the Antarctic.

Credit: Vernon Asper

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the game season 4 episode 1 freddie mitchell simon chipmunk lebron james twitter jimmer fredette thomas tew rum issaquah school district the game tv show lasso of truth terrence j

Antarctic Ice Divers

Last November, a team of scientists, funded by the National Science Foundation, began using a pair of autonomous robotic vehicles to gather an information from beneath the Ross Ice Shelf in the Antarctic.

Credit: Vernon Asper

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Source: http://feeds.technologyreview.com/click.phdo?i=a3e186f7ae8e655a58bc4d0cb49f070c

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Huckabee Says He Won?t Run for President

?All the factors say go but my heart says no, and that?s the decision that I have made,? he said near the end of his Fox News program, ?Huckabee.?

Mr. Huckabee made clear in recent weeks that he was seriously considering waging a campaign after sending earlier signals he was not. Although Mr. Huckabee had said he would announce his intentions on the show, even his closest aides did not know what he would say.

He kept his supporters waiting as long as possible, making the announcement at the very end of his hourlong, 8 p.m. program after interviewing guests including the ?Extra? host Mario Lopez and the rock musician Ted Nugent, even jamming with him on his old hit song ?Cat Scratch Fever.? (Mr. Huckabee plays the bass.)

Even during his statement, he used language that seemed to hint he was running. ?The past few weeks the external signs and signals and answers to many of the obstacles point strongly toward running,? he said. But, he said, upon reflection, he realized, ?under the best of circumstances being president is a job that takes one to the limit of his or her human capacity. For me to do it apart from an inner confidence that I was undertaking it without God?s full blessing is simply unthinkable.?

Mr. Huckabee had been showing strong poll numbers, among some of the strongest of his party?s possible contenders. His decision brings the fluid field of prospective Republican presidential candidates a step closer to a solid state, leaving two other highly anticipated announcements to come: those of Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana and former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska.

Former Gov. Jon M. Huntsman Jr., of Utah, who recently left his post as President Obama?s ambassador to China, is seriously considering a run, as is a former ambassador to the United Nations, John R. Bolton, who said in a brief interview Saturday night that Mr. Huckabee?s announcement made him more likely to start a campaign. ?Anyone else considering it has to get serious about it,? he said.

(An aide to Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota said on Friday that she would be more likely to run, as well, if Mr. Huckabee decided against doing so.)

Had Mr. Huckabee entered the race, he would have been filling a perceptible void in the Republican field by becoming the presumed candidate of evangelicals, whose social issues have been largely swept aside as both parties focus most acutely on the economy and government spending.

Mr. Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister and veteran of religious broadcasting, has carefully maintained ties to his colleagues in the religious sphere.

?He knows our issues backward and forward, and he knows our people backward and forward because he is one of them,? said Dr. Richard D. Land, the president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.

His decision to forgo a run presumably leaves that space wide open for Ms. Palin, a self described ?Bible-believing Christian,? should she jump into the race. But Mr. Land said there were candidates already running who can and will address the critical evangelical constituency, among them former House Speaker Newt Gingrich ? who has been actively reaching out to Christian groups ? and former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, who has been outspoken against same sex marriage and on in other conservative social issues causes.

Still, evangelicals have yet to rally to the side of any of the candidates thus far. In that regard, they resemble the party in general. Said Matthew Dowd, a former political adviser to President George W. Bush: ?It?s anyone?s game at this point.?

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Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=1060586956dca4e22399db109854b582

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Hardware 23 - Socket to 'em

Hardware 23 - Socket to 'em

Posted on 9th May 2011 at 11:49 by Podcast with 5 comments

This week, Clive, Harry, Paul and Antony discuss Folding@home, going through what it's all about and what hardware you should be using to generate the most points per day.

Also on the agenda are some of our thoughts about factory-overclocked graphics cards. We discuss where in the market these provide real value, and when you?d be better of trading up to a better GPU altogether.

Harry also treats us all to a very long comprehensive run down of the current state of the SSD market, and what developments we can expect to see there over the next few months.

Finally, we take a look at AMD?s soon to be retired Phenom brand, and discuss what AMD got right and wrong with this chip-generation. We also take a look back at the conclusions we drew from our first experiences with Phenom-branded processors, and how our thoughts back then compare to our thoughts now.


As always, we've also set up our weekly competition, the lucky winner of which will walk away with a Speedlink Strike FX wireless gamepad. This gamepad is compatible with both the PC and PlayStation 3, and functions at distances of up to 10m.

As ever, the bit-tech hardware podcast features music by Brad Sucks, and was recorded on Shure microphones. You can download the podcast direct, listen in-browser or subscribe through iTunes using the links below. Also, be sure to let us know your thoughts about the discussion in the forums.

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Plugin | Settlement Statement | WordPress Tutorials

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bit-tech/blog/~3/8iYhEN5vDa4/

freddie mitchell simon chipmunk lebron james twitter jimmer fredette thomas tew rum issaquah school district the game tv show lasso of truth terrence j most popular thanksgiving side dish