Microsoft tablet Surface to start at $499

FILE-In this June 18, 2012, file photo, Microsoft Corp.'s new Surface tablet computer is displayed at Hollywood's Milk Studios in Los Angeles. Microsoft's first tablet computer, the Surface, will start at $499 when it goes on sale Oct. 26. The price matches that of Apple Inc.'s iPad, the most popular tablet computer, but the base model of the Surface has twice as much storage memory: 32 gigabytes. The screen is also slightly larger. The signature hardware feature of the tablet, a cover (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

FILE-In this June 18, 2012, file photo, Microsoft Corp.'s new Surface tablet computer is displayed at Hollywood's Milk Studios in Los Angeles. Microsoft's first tablet computer, the Surface, will start at $499 when it goes on sale Oct. 26. The price matches that of Apple Inc.'s iPad, the most popular tablet computer, but the base model of the Surface has twice as much storage memory: 32 gigabytes. The screen is also slightly larger. The signature hardware feature of the tablet, a cover (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

REDMOND, Wash. (AP) ? Microsoft's first tablet computer, the Surface, will start at $499 when it goes on sale Oct. 26.

The price matches that of Apple Inc.'s iPad, the most popular tablet computer, but the base model of the Surface has twice as much storage memory: 32 gigabytes. The screen is also slightly larger.

The signature hardware feature of the tablet, a cover that doubles as a keyboard, will cost another $100, Microsoft Corp. said Tuesday. A step-up model for $699 has twice the memory, 64 GB, and includes a cover.

The launch of the Surface is an unusual move for Microsoft, which usually sells software to computer makers instead of making computers itself. It coincides with the launch of Windows 8, a version of the operating system that's designed to work better on touch-screen computers and tablets.

Microsoft will be selling the tablet in its own stores in the U.S. and Canada and online in those countries, plus Australia, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong and the U.K.

The Touch Cover has a working, printed keyboard on its inside surface, but the "keys" don't move when pushed. Microsoft will sell a separate Type Cover with keys that move for $130.

The first version of the Surface doesn't have a regular Intel-style PC processor and won't run regular PC software, but it does include a version of the Office suite. Microsoft plans to release another version of the Surface some months later with a more traditional processor and the ability to run regular Windows programs. It did not disclose prices for that model.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2012-10-16-Microsoft-Surface/id-3985f71dced646c081da8aed3acf5171

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Like a challenge? Four great hotels for team-building fun

The Biltmore Culinary Academy, at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, offers tasty team building activities.

By Mark Chesnut

Whether it?s rappelling down a cliff, competing to finish a gourmet recipe or engaging in a lively scavenger hunt, team building activities are increasingly popular for businesses looking to build camaraderie, communication and productivity among staff and even with clients. Here are a few hotels that offer interesting options for having fun while working together.

The very name West Point brings to mind discipline and teamwork, and at the historic Thayer Hotel at West Point, located on the grounds of the famed military academy in upstate New York, groups can take part in everything from pleasantly competitive golf tournaments to sophisticated tactical team training on a simulated battlefield. After competing on the fields where George Washington drilled his Revolutionary War troops, present-day business challenges might seem small in comparison.

Exciting, action-oriented team building is also popular at the Houstonian Hotel Club & Spa, a property in Houston with 125,000 square feet of fitness facilities. Guests here can make use of a rock climbing wall, participate in Amazing Race-style games and hone their so-called ?primitive survival skills,? all on the hotel?s campus.

All that may sound tiring to some attendees, but don?t be fooled into thinking that every team building event is physically demanding. At the historic Biltmore Hotel, in Miami?s upscale Coral Gables area, the Biltmore Culinary Academy hosts private gatherings that combine elements of a cooking class, cocktail party and team building event. Participants learn to work together as they create delicious hors d?oeuvres and other menu items, and they?ll be able to share the fruits of their labor afterwards.

Across the Atlantic, team players can take advantage of Italy?s most alluring ?and delicious?qualities at The Duke Hotel Rome. This boutique property stages personalized tasting sessions of wine, olive oil, cheese and chocolate, tailored for business groups who want to share experiences and learn together. The hotel also stages team-building cooking lessons at a private estate just 20 minutes outside the city.

Mark Chesnut is a travel writer, editor and publisher of LatinFlyer.com, which focuses on travel to Latin America. He?s always open to joining a chocolate tasting session.?

This entry was posted Business Travel, Europe Vacation, Florida Vacation, Food & Wine, Hotels, International Vacations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Source: http://www.inspired-by-nature.com/like-a-challenge-four-great-hotels-for-team-building-fun/

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Girl sticks head out of train window, misses oncoming train (VIDEO)

A video that appears to show a smiling train passenger narrowly miss being hit by an oncoming train while sticking her head out the window is making the rounds online.

In a harrowing, 30-second video, the girl?identified as Carissa?is encouraged by a fellow to stick her head out the moving train for a photo and video shot from a window a few seats away.

(YouTube)

She does, removing her sunglasses and turning her head before the oncoming train sends her tumbling backward.

"Oh my god!" she exclaims, collapsing in a mix of terror and giggles.

"Are you OK?" the male passenger who shot the video asks.

Luckily, she is.

It's unclear where or when the video was shot. According to the Herald Sun, the video?first uploaded to LiveLeak.com on Sept. 30?was copied and posted to YouTube. At least one version was removed from YouTube "because of the depiction of dangerous activity," the Sun said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/girl-train-head-video-132041491.html

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President of Mauritania appeals for calm after being shot

Mauritania's President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz spoke to the nation from a hospital bed in France where he is recovering from what is described as an accidental shooting.

By Laurent Prieur,?Reuters / October 14, 2012

Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz recovers at the Ksar Military Hospital in Noukchott, Mauritania on Sunday, before being evacuated to France for further treatment for a gunshot wound sustained to the arm.

AP Photo

Enlarge

Mauritania's president was flown to France for surgery on Sunday after the Western ally against Al Qaeda was shot by soldiers in what he said was an accident.

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The shooting late on Saturday set the coup-prone northwest African country on edge and President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz appealed to Mauritanians to keep calm in a televised message from his hospital bed.

Although?Mauritania has been stable politically since Mr. Abdel Aziz seized power in 2008, it lies on the fringes of the Sahara Desert where Islamist gunmen hold increasing sway.

"I want to reassure everyone about my state of health after this incident committed by error," Abdel Aziz said from his bed. "Thanks to God, I am doing well."

He was covered in a sheet up to his neck and the extend of the wounds was not clear. Medical sources said he had been shot in the abdomen.

The president had been flown to France ??the former colonial power ??for further treatment, communications minister Hamdi Ould Mahjoub told Reuters.

Abdel Aziz was wounded late on Saturday when a military patrol opened fire on his convoy about 40 km (25 miles) from the capital, Nouakchott, the government said. He was driving from the town of Toueila, where he has a ranch.

Officials did not say what had happened to the soldiers who had opened fire on the convoy.

Mauritania?launched numerous military operations on Islamist bases in neighboring Mali before a rebellion split that country in two in March, leaving much of it in the hands of heavily-armed groups linked to Al Qaeda.

Abdel Aziz was elected in 2009 after seizing power a year earlier in a coup that cut short the rule of Mauritania's?first democratically elected president, who had reached out to Islamists.

Split between black and Arab Africa, Mauritania?is bigger than Turkey but has only 3.5 million people. The largely desert country produces oil from wells offshore. Its other main export industries are mining and fishing.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/world/~3/bTv8ZrR9M5o/President-of-Mauritania-appeals-for-calm-after-being-shot

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Christmas Comes Early | Allen's Blog - P. Allen Smith Garden Home

Monday, October 15th, 2012 by P. Allen Smith, 6 comments

"What do you do every day?" It's a question I've been asked, always politely, throughout my entire career. And it is a fair question. Do I spend all my time in the garden, making recipes, or choosing paint colors? Do I have an army of workers running crazy while I sit back and drink hot cocoa? Do I spend one day a week writing, another filming, another speaking, and another managing my farm?

Honestly, it's a little bit of each of those (with the exception of the hot cocoa. In Arkansas there is a small window of time when it's cold enough to drink hot cocoa.). The average week involves all of those details, but usually there's a little something extra thrown into the mix.

Recently, it was shooting a commercial for my Holiday Collection with Berry Family of Nurseries. Filming is a part of daily life at the Garden Home, but we decided to rent out a studio for a new look for this commercial.

Here are a few things I learned about making commercials:

You have to take your shoes off when walking on an all-white set, otherwise you track dirt onto the set. If you do it correctly, though, the magic of television can turn an empty set into a fully decorated room in the snap of a finger.

It's better to just bring most of the shirts in your closet, because you never know what is "holiday appropriate," especially when it's still 80 degrees outside.

Even a small amount of greenery can get you into the Christmas spirit, especially when the greenery was flown in just that morning from the Cascade Mountains in western Oregon.

It takes a lot of people to make a commercial come together. Luckily, I've got a very talented crew.

Five hours, three cups of coffee, one rented studio, a dozen set changes, 10 different wreaths, and a crew of 8 people later, we had a commercial.

Well, let me rephrase that. We had the footage for a commercial, and now it falls to the editing team back at the office. And I will say this much- I can't wait to see what they produce.

Source: http://www.pallensmith.com/blog/holiday/christmas-comes-early

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iPad Mini Pricing Framed In Light Of Apple?s Dedication To Margins

Rumors around the iPad mini are understandably reaching a fever pitch now that an announcement seems likely for Oct. 23, and a new one over the weekend claims to have a breakdown of iPad mini unit pricing. While it seems unlikely that Apple would release pricing info to retail partners ahead of a new product launch, it isn't entirely unprecedented. But are the costs in line with Apple's margins?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/m9OjGOxUA2c/

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Editor's Note | November 2012 - Articles | Travel + Leisure

?It?s the jump cuts between unlike places that keep the action interesting? were the words from T+L contributing editor Adam Sachs (?When the Right Trip Goes Wrong?) that kept echoing through my mind as I tried to get my enthusiasm up for a jump cut of my own last Friday morning. Having arrived home in New York at 8 p.m. the previous evening, I was unpacking my suitcase from a week in Central Europe and repacking it for three nights in London, a challenging maneuver that ultimately led me to the chair in my central London hotel room where I am now seated. This month, in an instance of magazine articles mirroring life, our cover feature, ?101 Places Every Traveler Should Know,? catapults from the first-century-B.C. monument of Petra, in Jordan, to Louis XIV?s gardens in Versailles, and from a cruise on the Amazon to a drop-by at New Orleans?s Preservation Hall. Endlessly debated in our offices, this travel life list is the result of a prodigious polling effort?beginning in-house with the magazine?s editors and fanning out to our global network of correspondents, contributors, and experts, and expanding beyond to some noted personalities with a lot to say. One thing is certain: the list, in all its glorious eccentricity, will provoke some strong reactions from you, our readers.

Of course, the places we highlight in every issue of T+L are ones we think you should know. This month they range from the Caribbean to Paris, and from Panama to Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. Our cruise editor, Jane Wooldridge, offers her personal account of the attractions of vacations at sea, and our annual Air Travel Report will help you get past the ever-changing hurdles?including security?faster.

No matter the jump cuts along the way, I am a strong advocate for traveling slowly whenever you can. This morning I took advantage of a gap in my meetings schedule and went for a walk along the Thames, heading south toward Westminster Bridge then crossing over and returning on Waterloo Bridge, where a sweet Saudi couple pushing a baby carriage asked me to take a picture of them against a backdrop of the London Eye and Big Ben. As I made my way through Victoria Embankment Gardens toward my hotel, I was thinking not about work, but about flowers, and how much later they bloom in London than in my Connecticut garden. Between sometimes jarringly fast transitions, travel offers delectable opportunities to take a deep breath and bask in where you are.

Where to Find Me

E-Mail: nancytravelandleisure@aexp.com

Twitter: @TLNancy

Source: http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/editors-note-november-2012

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