How to Use Big Business Finance Principles to Grow Your Email List

This guest post is by Josh Turner of GatewayCFO.com.

If you?re like me, you focus most of your attention on the growth of your site. You know that generating revenue is priority number one. Thinking about finance and accounting? That?s just a distraction.

While this is true to some extent, there is much more to the world of finance than just counting the beans.

Business finance is about using numbers to improve future business performance. In other words, accounting is about understanding the past and finance is about mapping out the future. No matter the size of your business, the same principles can be applied.

Within big corporations, finance departments provide data, tools and analysis to increase future sales, opportunities, and revenue. And you can do the same things.

One way they achieve this is through the use of dashboards or scorecards. These tools monitor the key metrics that their sales and marketing teams have to stay on top of. Not meeting these goals in the short term will cause them to falter down the road. So what does this mean for you?

Monitoring your metrics?and I?m not talking site traffic

Let?s use Gary as an example. Gary is working hard to grow his email list. He?s currently at 500 subscribers, and has a short-term goal of reaching 8,000. He knows that his growth is supported by two areas:

1. organic traffic on his site, converting to email signups
2. guest posts driving traffic to his site, which convert to email signups.

With his current posting schedule of two new articles per week, Gary expects to receive ten new email signups per week. He also knows that, on average, he receives 100 new email signups every time he writes a guest post.

Using your data to project growth

Based on this data, Gary can figure out exactly what it will take to reach his goals. Initially, he decides that it?s feasible to write a total of four articles per week: two for his site and two guest posts. Based on this level of activity, he can forecast approximately 210 new email signups per week. At this rate, it will take Gary 35.71 weeks to grow his list of 500 all the way to 8,000.

Gary has never looked at his email list growth this way. Not bad, he thinks, but he really had hoped to grow his list to 8,000 within 16 weeks. Based on the same metrics and assumptions, Gary can calculate that he needs to add 468.75 new subscribers every week to reach this goal.

Breaking it down from there, he knows that he will need to write 4.59 guest posts per week. That?s about 238 guest posts on an annual basis. Gary decides to step up his game, put in the hard work, and make it happen.

Looking at list growth in this manner provides clarity and clear goals. But you have to take it a step further to enforce accountability.

Create your own dashboard to improve performance

Big businesses use dashboards to keep owners and managers apprised of performance, and to keep their teams on track and accountable. Typically a graphical display, it shows them the key numbers that they have identified as critical to their business performance.

Doing the same thing for your site and email list will provide you with the same type of accountability. Build a simple Excel spreadsheet that tracks the numbers that you have identified as critical for the growth of your email list. It might contain the following data:

• weekly guest posts
• weekly posts on site
• weekly new email subscribers
• weekly sales/revenue

Set up the spreadsheet to include data for the prior week, prior month, and year-to-date. This will give you insight into your numbers and tell you if you are on track. Gary?s dashboard might look like this:

An example spreadhseet

Use conditional formatting in Excel to highlight good results in green and bad results in red, and set up a second sheet that includes the actual data for each week. With this, you can then create functions within the dashboard that automatically generate the dashboard results. Once this is completed, all you have to do is update the data sheet at the end of each week with the four numbers.

Why would you want to do this?

Spend 30 minutes setting up the Excel file. Following this initial setup, you will only need to spend one minute updating the data each week. Doing so will provide you with tangible benefits.

1. You will stay on top of your metrics and not stray from your plan.
2. You will be consistently reinforcing your goals.
3. When things go astray, you will know where course correction is needed.
4. You?ll be executing your business like a pro.
5. You will be far more likely to meet your email list goals.

Yes, it?s an extra step in your blogging process. But with just a little time up front, you?ll be running your site and business much more like, well, a business.

Josh Turner is the founder of GatewayCFO.com, where he helps small business owners realize their profit potential. He is currently giving away his how-to ebook ?Cash Flow Clarity: Be Proactive, Make Life Easier, Make More Money.? Get your copy here.

Source: http://www.problogger.net/archives/2011/11/01/how-to-use-big-business-finance-principles-to-grow-your-email-list/

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Romney friends give ammo to critics (Politico)

Mitt Romney is stacking his team with policy advisers from the George W. Bush administration ? and it has conservatives up in arms.

The Republican right cringes at some of the high-profile people Romney is leaning on for donations and advice, including three former Bush-era officials whose recent records include lobbying for Solyndra and advocating on behalf of cap-and-trade legislation and carbon taxes.

Continue Reading

Romney?s long-ago environmental associates are also causing him problems, with Texas Gov. Rick Perry and the conservative blogosphere reveling in 6-year-old news releases showing how two current Obama administration officials ? Environmental Protection Agency air chief Gina McCarthy and White House science adviser John Holdren ? once helped the former Massachusetts governor craft his climate change policies.

Most environmentalists don?t have pleasant memories of the Bush administration, but Republicans also recall how Bush signed into law a 2005 mandate requiring the nation to use billions of gallons of renewable fuels, or his buckling as a lame duck to the Democratic-controlled Congress by signing a 2007 law raising fuel economy standards.

Near the end of Bush?s second term, he?d even embraced a national goal for halting the growth of greenhouse gases.

Jim Connaughton, a key architect of the climate plan as chairman of the Bush White House Council on Environmental Quality, co-hosted a Romney fundraiser last month in Bethesda, Md., and Greg Mankiw, the chairman of Bush?s Council of Economic Advisers who later became an outspoken advocate for a carbon tax, helped craft Romney?s jobs agenda.

Another former Bush White House staffer, Alex Mistri, is also causing headaches for Romney. Mistri, now a?managing director of The Glover Park Group, registered earlier this year as a lobbyist for the now-infamous bankrupt solar company Solyndra.

?When you have people advising you who have supported a carbon tax, you can imagine that raises some concern,? said Dan Kish, a longtime Capitol Hill GOP energy aide who now works as senior vice president for policy at the Institute for Energy Research.

Of Romney, Kish added, ?It?s like a box of chocolates, you don?t know what you?re going to get. Frankly, there?s a bunch of people who are tired of getting a box of chocolates.?

On the campaign trail, Romney has said he?d reverse Obama-era environmental rules and would never back a unilateral cap-and-trade program. Speaking at a fundraiser Thursday in Pittsburgh, the GOP front-runner tried to plant himself in the global warming skeptics camp.

?My view is that we don?t know what?s causing climate change on this planet,? he said. ?And the idea of spending trillions and trillions of dollars to try to reduce CO₂ emissions is not the right course for us.?

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories1011_67110_html/43433542/SIG=11mnqscdt/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/67110.html

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Republican Vice Presidential Contenders (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | Rick Perry has two presidential 2012 Republicans debates under his belt and is the clear frontrunner in the race. Sure, Michele Bachmann and liberal pundits will try to dim his rising star with sound bites incorrect facts, but win the nomination he will. Fiscal conservatives are already looking past the top of the ticket and wondering who will join Perry on his quest to restore prosperity in America.

Vice Presidential Options

* Herman Cain. The fiscally responsible job creator is an excellent choice to run on the 2012 ticket with Perry. The man has a straight-shooter and no-nonsense personality like the governor and a solid job performance record. Cain understands how to run a business successfully and the omnipotent role the private sector must play to turn the economy around. The candidates share a similar view on the current unsustainable spending conducted on behalf of the Obama administration and the need to secure our borders.

* Mitt Romney. While the two candidates share similar views on many issues, Romney would probably not like playing second fiddle in Perry's band. The recent debates illustrated a willingness to highlight his forceful side, but the innate character differences between the two men might not mesh well during the campaign. Romney has many positive attributes but comes across as more of an establishment candidate than Perry and would do little to attract staunch fiscal conservatives and tea party members.

* Newt Gingrich. The experience and amazingly strong historical memory Gingrich possesses would make him a prime choice to work somewhere in the administration. Unfortunately, the candidate is viewed as a career Republican politician by too many voters to be an asset on the 2012 ticket. The guidance and intelligence Gingrich could bring to oval office conversations would be beneficial to Perry. Personally, I would love to see Newt become the next press secretary. He would bring off-the-cuff honesty to the podium like the country has never seen before.

* Chris Christie. Stop hoping, it's just not going to happen. Christie was prompted and prodded relentlessly to enter the race and refused to skip out on the commitment he made to New Jersey voters. Christie would likely be a frontrunner if he entered the race even at a very late date, but he does not have the type of personality which could exist in a second-tier position.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20111028/pl_ac/9069055_republican_vice_presidential_contenders

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Scientists predict faster retreat for Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier; Underwater ridge critical to future flow

ScienceDaily (Oct. 26, 2011) ? The retreat of Antarctica's fast-flowing Thwaites Glacier is expected to speed up within 20 years, once the glacier detaches from an underwater ridge that is currently holding it back, says a new study in Geophysical Research Letters.

Thwaites Glacier, which drains into west Antarctica's Amundsen Sea, is being closely watched for its potential to raise global sea levels as the planet warms. Neighboring glaciers in the Amundsen region are also thinning rapidly, including Pine Island Glacier and the much larger Getz Ice Shelf. The study is the latest to confirm the importance of seafloor topography in predicting how these glaciers will behave in the near future.

Scientists had previously identified a rock feature off west Antarctica that appeared to be slowing the glacier's slide into the sea. But this study is the first to connect it to a larger ridge, using geophysical data collected during flights over Thwaites Glacier in 2009 under NASA's Ice Bridge campaign. The newly discovered ridge is 700 meters tall, with two peaks -- one that currently anchors the glacier and another farther off shore that held the glacier in place between 55 and 150 years ago, according to the authors.

The goal of NASA's Ice Bridge campaign is to map the topography of vulnerable regions like this in Antarctica and Greenland by flying over the ice sheets with ice-penetrating radar and other instruments.

The discovery that Thwaites is losing its grip on a previously unknown ridge has helped scientists understand why the glacier seems to be moving faster than it used to.

As scientists map the contours of the seafloor in the Amundsen Sea region, they are forming a clearer picture of what the glaciers are doing.In 2009, researchers sent a robot submarine beneath Pine Island Glacier's floating ice tongue and discovered a ridge about half the size of the one off Thwaites Glacier. Researchers estimate that Pine Island Glacier lifted off that ridge in the 1970s, allowing warm ocean currents to melt the glacier from below. The glacier's ice shelf is now moving 50 percent faster than it was in the early 1990s, Lamont-Doherty oceanographer Stan Jacobs and colleagues detailed in a study in Nature Geoscience earlier this year. Pine Island Glacier is moving into the sea at the rate of 4 kilometers a year -- four times faster than the fastest-moving section of Thwaites.

Lamont-Doherty geophysicist Robin Bell, study co-author, compares the ridge in front of Thwaites to a person standing in a doorway, holding back a crowd. "Knowing the ridge is there lets us understand why the wide ice tongue that used to be in front of the glacier has broken up," she said. "We can now predict when the last bit of floating ice will lift off the ridge. We expect more ice will come streaming out of the Thwaites Glacier when this happens."

"The bathymetry is the roadmap for how warm ocean water reaches the edges of the ice sheet," she added. "Ridges like this one and the one discovered in front of Pine Island Glacier stabilize ice sheets, but can also be a critical part of the destabilizing process."

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/7ueueVNFP0w/111026162707.htm

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Controller in first lady incident had prior errors (AP)

WASHINGTON ? A report by federal safety investigators says the air traffic controller who allowed a plane carrying first lady Michelle Obama to fly too close a military cargo jet last spring had accumulated four previous "coordination errors."

The National Transportation Safety Board report released Thursday said the controller violated two Federal Aviation Administration procedures during the incident. The Boeing 737 with Mrs. Obama and vice presidential spouse Jill Biden aboard was forced to abort an intended landing at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland to avoid wake turbulence from the larger military jet and to give it time to clear the runway.

The report said the controller, who wasn't identified, was relieved of his air traffic control duties and sent for retraining, but is approved to handle air traffic again.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111027/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_first_lady_s_plane

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California governor wants workers to pay more for pensions (Reuters)

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) ? California Governor Jerry Brown on Thursday unveiled a major overhaul of the pension plan for the state's public employees, proposing they equally share the cost of pension contributions and raising the retirement plan for most new workers to 67 from 55.

Brown said his plan would save taxpayers billions of dollars over the long term and close loopholes that allow workers to inflate pensions.

Pension costs have been a growing concern for state leaders due to forecasts of their burden on California's already strained finances.

"It's time to fix our pension systems so that they are fair and sustainable over a long time horizon," Brown, a Democrat, said in a statement.

Leaders of the Democrat-controlled legislature responded cautiously to the plan. Public employee unions, whose members have already been hit with layoffs, furloughs and a hiring freeze as California has reined in spending, reacted negatively.

Under the plan, which now goes to lawmakers, all new and current employees in state, local, school and other public agencies would have to equally share with their employers contributions to retirement plans.

Brown also proposed changing the existing defined benefit pension plan -- under which retirees receive a guaranteed amount of money per month for life -- for a "hybrid" plan with a reduced defined-benefit component paired with a defined-contribution component.

The combined approach would provide employees 75 percent of salary based on a full career of 30 years for safety employees and 35 years for nonsafety employees. The two components of the plan would provide roughly equal benefits.

For state workers who are not covered by U.S. Social Security, defined benefits would make up two-thirds of targeted pension payouts and defined-contribution payments would make up the remaining one-third.

Brown also proposed restructuring the board of the California Public Employees' Retirement System, the biggest U.S. public pension fund.

"In the past, the lack of independence and financial sophistication on public retirement boards has contributed to unaffordable pension benefit increases," Brown said.

POLITICS OF PENSION REFORM

Democratic lawmakers gave a muted response to the plan.

"The governor is proposing a provocative set of reforms, and I intend to approach them with an open mind," said Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg. "The abuses that a small number of people take advantage of absolutely must be resolved. But we can't forget that the vast majority of public sector employees are middle class workers and their average pensions are far from exorbitant."

Assembly Speaker John Perez said his chamber would work with Brown to "bring stability to our pension system in a manner that does right by taxpayers and public servants alike."

Union officials offered a fairly blunt assessment.

"The governor has said for weeks now that he would release a plan labor wouldn't like. Mission accomplished," said Dave Low, executive director of the 220,000-member California School Employees Association. "It's a pretty tough pill to swallow."

Even before taking office in January, Brown had vowed to be a tightfisted governor and said that would involve changes to shave pension costs.

He had been in talks on pension issues with Republicans in the legislature's minority as part of broader state budget negotiations in March. Talks on pension matters, however, were shelved as more pressing budget matters prevailed.

Republicans were able to insert pensions into budget talks because polls have been showing voters back changing them.

"This seems to be increasing in urgency," said Mark DiCamillo, director of The Field Poll, which has conducted polls on voter sentiment on public pensions.

(Editing by Leslie Adler)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111027/us_nm/us_economy_california_pensions

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What Happens When Your Cat Earns More Money Than You Do [Humor]

Well, The Rapture was a bust. AGAIN. And 2012 isn't really shaping up the be the End of Days (so disappointing), so how exactly will modern culture meet its destruction? Simply: LOLCats. [Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal via Laughing Squid] More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/DY8lOSnCs7U/what-happens-when-your-cat-earns-more-money-than-you-do

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[OOC] Alaga?sia

Forum rules
This forum is for OOC discussion about existing roleplays.

Please post all "Players Wanted" threads in the Roleplayers Wanted forum!

This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?Alagaesia?. Anything posted here will also show up there.

Topic Tags:

Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.

Welcome, Peachyme123. I've gone ahead and made this one. You like it?

Last edited by Yashie on Mon Oct 24, 2011 8:41 pm, edited 1 time in total. If no mistake have you made, yet losing you are ... a different game you should play.

Yashie

Member for 0 years

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So are we both dragon riders?

I know you have done so much for me but since I don't know alot of what my char has to be could you make character sheet on ooc to guide me? thx

And I LOVE it you did a great job!

peachyme123

Member for 0 years

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Return to Out of Character

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China says to launch unmanned space-docking craft (Reuters)

BEIJING (Reuters) ? China said on Wednesday it will launch within weeks its first spacecraft capable of docking with a module it put into orbit last month, in what will mark a crucial test of its growing space program.

The unmanned Shenzhou-8 spacecraft, carried by the Long March-2F rocket, will blast off in early November, state media reported, and will later try to dock with the Tiantong-1, or "Heavenly Palace-1" space laboratory module China launched in September.

Officials with China's space program have said the docking tests will provide experience for the building of a permanent manned space station around 2020.

It is also the latest in a long string of Chinese space launches that have burnished national pride, as budget restraints and shifting priorities have held back U.S. manned space launches.

The official Xinhua news agency did not give a specific date for the launch, but said the craft was being transported to the remote Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert.

Beijing is still far from catching up with space superpowers. Russia, the United States and other countries jointly operate the International Space Station, a group to which China does not belong.

The United States will not test a new rocket to take people into space until 2017. Russia has said manned missions are no longer a priority for its space program, which has struggled with delays and glitches.

China launched its second moon orbiter last year after it became only the third country to send its astronauts walking in space outside their orbiting craft in 2008.

It plans an unmanned moon landing and deployment of a moon rover in 2012, and the retrieval of lunar soil and stone samples around 2017. Scientists have talked about the possibility of sending a man to the moon after 2020.

China is also jostling with neighbors Japan and India for a bigger presence in space, but its plans have faced international wariness. Beijing says its aims are peaceful, and that the involvement of its military is natural given the magnitude of the undertaking.

(Reporting by Michael Martina; Editing by Paul Tait)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111026/sc_nm/us_china_space

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U2 revisit ?Achtung Baby,? question their future

Ask Bono a tough question and you might get a tougher answer. U2 are about to release their most expansive reissue project yet, for 1991's "Achtung Baby" ? the album where they traded in earnest uplift for funk, noise, sex, irony and self-doubt. So how does this lavish look back square with the band's old lyric "You glorify the past when the future dries up"?

"I'm not so sure the future hasn't dried up," says Bono, who's been irritating his bandmates lately by publicly questioning U2's relevance ? despite the fact that they just finished the highest-grossing tour of all time. "The band are like, 'Will you shut up about being irrelevant?'" he says. But Bono can't help himself ? even though U2 have been in and out of the studio with various producers recently, he raises the possibility that the band may have released its final album. "We'd be very pleased to end on No Line on the Horizon," he says, before acknowledging the unlikelihood of that scenario: "I doubt that."

Bono concedes that revisiting the album where U2 punched themselves out of a tight corner ? after 1988's "Rattle and Hum" movie and album helped convince some music fans they were hopelessly solemn and pompous ? suggested a way forward. "Ironically, being forced to look back at this period reminds me of how we might re-emerge for the next phase," says Bono. "And that doesn't mean that you have to wear some mad welder's goggles or dress up in women's clothing. Reinvention is much deeper than that."

RS readers' poll: The best U2 songs

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Moving forward has never been easy for U2, as chronicled in the outtakes, B sides and early versions of "Achtung" songs unearthed for a new box set ? and set forth in moving detail in "From the Sky Down," a documentary about "Achtung Baby's" genesis by "It Might Get Loud" director Davis Guggenheim. The movie, which opened the Toronto International Film Festival, makes it clear that trying to find a new sound led to what the Edge calls "a potentially career-ending series of difficulties." In tracing the creation of "One," the film also reveals that lyrics such as "We're one, but we're not the same" are as much about the band's fraught brotherhood as anything else. "I thought [Achtung Baby] was a really supercool moment in a not always supercool life," Bono says with a laugh, "and [Guggenheim] goes and makes an uncool film about us!"

"Rattle and Hum," and the horn-section-and-B.B.-King-accompanied Lovetown Tour that followed, were U2's rootsiest moment. But for a band whose actual roots were in late-Seventies post-punk, the cowboy hats and denim were starting to chafe. The Edge was listening to My Bloody Valentine, Nine Inch Nails and Einst?rzende Neubauten, while also noting the fusion of rock and dance coming out of Manchester, with groups like the Stone Roses. "I always remember the intense embarrassment when I happened to be in a club and a generous-spirited DJ would put on one of our tunes from the War album," the Edge says. "It was so evident we had never been thinking about how it would go down in clubs. So we just wanted to stretch ourselves in the area of rhythm and backbeat and groove."

Story: U2 honored as 'Greatest Act' in last 25 years

The band recorded the bulk of the album in Berlin's Hansa Studios, just as Germany was reunifying ? and as co-producer Brian Eno wrote, aesthetic guidelines soon emerged: "Buzzwords on this record were trashy, throwaway, dark, sexy and industrial." "We found it was more interesting to start from an extreme place," says the Edge.

Hence the buzz-saw guitars that kick off the opening track, "Zoo Station," followed by a blast of Larry Mullen Jr.'s drums distorted almost beyond recognition. "Some of the extreme sounds weren't achieved with sophisticated, outboard equipment, dialed in carefully," says the Edge. Instead, they simply overloaded their vintage recording console. "It was literally, 'What happens if you try to go to 11?'" says the guitarist.

U2 documentary shows band's struggles with 'Achtung Baby'

For the band, rediscovering the wildly different lyrics and arrangements on the early "kindergarten" versions of the songs was revelatory ? "Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World," for instance, sounds like an Irish folk tune. "The first time the paint goes on the canvas is a very, very exciting moment," says Bono. He was intrigued by a line in the early "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" that recasts its story as a "parasitic" love affair ("Your innocence I've experienced"), while the Edge is convinced the more restrained vocal melody on that version is superior to the released track.

One of the more intriguing outtakes, "Down All the Days," has the same backing track as "Numb," from U2's 1993 follow-up, Zooropa, with Bono singing an entirely different song. "It's this quite unhinged electronic backing track with a very traditional melody and lyrics," says the Edge. "It almost worked."

Meanwhile, U2's future plans are not set. "It's quite likely you might hear from us next year, but it's equally possible that you won't," says the Edge. Adds Bono, "We have so many [new] songs, some of our best. But I'm putting some time aside to just go and get lost in the music. I want to take my young boys and my wife and just disappear with my iPod Nano and some books and an acoustic guitar."

Copyright 2011 by Rolling Stone.com

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45030627/ns/today-entertainment/

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Biologists unravel how plants synthesize their growth hormone

ScienceDaily (Oct. 24, 2011) ? Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have succeeded in unraveling, for the first time, the complete chain of biochemical reactions that controls the synthesis of auxin, the hormone that regulates nearly all aspects of plant growth and development.

Their discovery, detailed in a paper in this week's online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, will allow agricultural scientists to develop new ways to enhance or manipulate auxin production to improve the growth and yield of crops and other plants.

More than a century ago, Charles Darwin noticed that plants produced a substance that made them bend toward light, a hormone called auxin that biologists have since found to be essential not only in regulating plant growth but also in patterning their development.

In 2006, a team of San Diego researchers headed by Yunde Zhao, an associate professor of biology at UC San Diego, discovered a family of 11 genes involved in the synthesis of auxin. Building on that work, Zhao and his colleagues at UCSD, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and RIKEN, Japan's natural sciences research institute, have now unraveled the main biochemical pathway leading to the synthesis of auxin.

"How plants synthesize this important hormone had remained a mystery for almost a century," said Zhao. "Several genes had been known to play important roles in auxin biosynthesis in plants, but the information was fragmented and no complete auxin biosynthesis pathways in plants were identified.'

In their study, Zhao and his colleagues used sophisticated genetic approaches in combination with analytical biochemistry to identify a simple two-step chain of biochemical reactions in the genetic model plant Arabidopsis that converts tryptophan to indole-3-acetic acid, the main auxin hormone synthesized in plants.

"The main reason that auxin biosynthesis mechanisms had evaded scientists is that each step in auxin biosynthesis involves many genes, making the genetic dissection of auxin biosynthesis very complicated," said Zhao. "Now that we've identified the main auxin biosynthesis pathway in plants, we will be able to regulate auxin levels in crops and other plants with temporal and spatial precision, providing useful tools for agricultural biotechnology."

"Auxin affects virtually every aspect of plant growth, including most traits that are important for agriculture," said Mark Estelle, a professor of biology at UC San Diego and one of the world's experts on auxin. "For example, auxin regulates plant stature, the number and shape of plant organs, as well as seed and fruit development."

"This discovery has many important implications," he added. "To the basic scientist, knowledge of auxin synthesis will aid in the understanding of many fundamental aspects of plant development. To the farmer, this advance will open up many new opportunities for crop improvement. This is particularly important as our society faces the daunting challenges of a growing global population and a changing climate."

Zhao's collaborators were Christina Won, Xiangling Shen, Xinhua Dai and Youfa Cheng of UC San Diego; Kiyoshi Mashiguchi, Hiroyuki Kasahara and Yuji Kamiya of RIKEN; and Zuyu Zheng and Joanne Chory of Salk. The study was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - San Diego. The original article was written by Kim McDonald.

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Journal References:

1. Christina Won, Xiangling Shen, Kiyoshi Mashiguchi, Zuyu Zheng, Xinhua Dai, Youfa Cheng, Hiroyuki Kasahara, Yuji Kamiya, Joanne Chory, Yunde Zhao. Conversion of tryptophan to indole-3-acetic acid by TRYPTOPHAN AMINOTRANSFERASES OF ARABIDOPSIS and YUCCAs in Arabidopsis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2011; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1108436108
2. Kiyoshi Mashiguchi, Keita Tanaka, Tatsuya Sakai, Satoko Sugawara, Hiroshi Kawaide, Masahiro Natsume, Atsushi Hanada, Takashi Yaeno, Ken Shirasu, Hong Yao, Paula Mcsteen, Yunde Zhao, Ken-Ichiro Hayashi, Yuji Kamiya, Hiroyuki Kasahara. The main auxin biosynthesis pathway in Arabidopsis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2011; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1108434108

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111024153401.htm

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Saudi crown prince dies in U.S. (Politico)

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia ? The heir to the Saudi throne, Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdel Aziz Al Saud, died in New York Saturday after an illness, state TV said. The death of the prince, who was in his 80s, opens questions about the succession in the critical, oil-rich U.S. ally.

Sultan was the half-brother of Saudi Arabia?s King Abdullah, who has also been ailing and underwent back surgery last week.

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The most likely candidate to replace Sultan as Abdullah?s successor is Prince Nayef, the powerful interior minister in charge of internal security forces. After Sultan fell ill, the king gave Nayef - also his half-brother - an implicit nod in 2009 by naming him second deputy prime minister, traditionally the post of the second in line to the throne.

Saudi official circles in Riyadh said he passed away at a hospital in New York. According to a leaked U.S. diplomatic cable from January 2010, Sultan had been receiving treatment for colon cancer since 2009.

Sultan, who was also the deputy prime minister and minister of defense and aviation, has had a string of health issues. He underwent surgery in New York in February 2009 for an undisclosed illness and spent nearly a year abroad recuperating in the United States and at a palace in Agadir, Morocco.

?It is with deep sorrow and grief that the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz Al Saud mourns the loss of his brother and Crown Prince His Royal Highness Prince Sultan Abdel Aziz Al Saud,? the palace said. The statement, which was carried on the official Saudi Press Agency, added that Sultan?s funeral will be held on Tuesday afternoon in Riyadh at the Imam Turki bin Abdullah mosque.

From Tajikistan, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed condolences on behalf of the American people and President Barack Obama.

?The crown prince was a strong leader and a good friend to the United States over many years as well as a tireless champion for his country. He will be missed,? said Clinton, who is on a Central Asia tour. ?Our relationship with Saudi Arabia is strong and enduring and we will look forward to working with the leadership for many years to come.?

For the first time, however, the mechanism of picking the next crown prince is not entirely clear.

It is possible the king will for the first time put the decision of his heir to the Allegiance Council, a body Abdullah created as one of his reforms, made up of his brothers and nephews with a mandate to determine the succession.

That would open the choice up to a degree of debate with the top echelons of the royal family. Nayef, however, will still be the front-runner.

Traditionally the king names his successor. But Abdullah formed the council in order to modernize the process and give a wider voice to the choice. Saudi Arabia has been ruled since 1953 by the sons of its founder, King Abdul-Aziz, who had over 40 sons by multiple wives.

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NPR Caves to Right Wing Pressure, Drops Opera Show (Little green footballs)

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Rangers star Hamilton hampered by groin injury

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By BEN WALKER

updated 8:19 p.m. ET Oct. 20, 2011

ST. LOUIS - Texas Rangers star Josh Hamilton would love to get a couple of weeks off to let his sore groin heal. Trouble is, there's no time to rest during the World Series.

Stuck in a power slump, Hamilton was set to play Game 2 Thursday night against the St. Louis Cardinals. The reigning AL MVP has been nursing a strained left groin for about two months and admits the injury is getting worse.

If this were the regular season, he said, "I'd probably be on the disabled list."

"It's OK," he said. "We got six games left."

Hamilton has not hit a home run in the postseason this year. He went 0 for 4 against Chris Carpenter and the Cardinals' bullpen on Wednesday night, and was hitting .267 with seven RBIs in these playoffs and World Series when he spoke.

Said Rangers president Nolan Ryan: "We've been aware of it. So far, it has been manageable. I'm optimistic that it will stay that way."

Hamilton estimated he was at about 75 to 80 percent strength. He grimaced during a check swing in Game 1, and said those half-swings were particularly painful. Asked if the injury affected him in other ways, he said "running and throwing and whatever else."

"If I need to run a ball out, I run it out," he said. "Otherwise, I save my bullets for the outfield."

Hamilton, in fact, checked his swing when he batted in the first inning Thursday night. He then shattered his bat on a soft groundout, and slowly jogged to first base.

Hamilton started the opener in center field. He shifted over to left field for Game 2, with speedy Craig Gentry in center. Gentry gives Texas another right-handed bat against St. Louis lefty Jaime Garcia.

"No, the move is not a concession," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "Whenever I put Gentry in our lineup, he plays center and Hamilton goes over to left."

"It's obvious that he has some discomfort, but it's not enough to take him out of the lineup," he said.

With no designated hitter in the NL city, it was either play the outfield or sit for Hamilton.

"I can't afford to take Hamilton out of my lineup," Washington said. "Even if Hamilton doesn't do anything, he makes a difference just with his presence in our lineup, and I want his presence in there tonight."

Hamilton hit .298 with 25 home runs and 94 RBIs during the regular season. He missed more than a month after breaking his arm on a headfirst slide.

Hamilton said he felt he could still make a significant contribution, even if he's not able to use his lower body to drive the ball out of the park.

"I can hit line drives with my upper body," he said.

Washington said he checks with Hamilton every day ? and has for a while ? before penciling him into the lineup.

Hamilton has struggled mightily in the World Series. He went 2 for 20 in a five-game loss to the San Francisco Giants last season before struggling in the opening game against St. Louis.

"It's something he can manage. He's been managing it," Washington said. "It's just been exposed more because we're the only game in town. Everybody sees it. But it's something he's been managing, and we've been managing it. Like I said earlier, I expect Hamilton to come up big tonight."

___

AP Sports Writer Dave Skretta contributed to this report.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/44982551/ns/sports-baseball/

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Turkey, Iran to collaborate against Kurdish rebels

Yeter Eroglu holds a photograph of his son, Murat Eroglu, 22, a Turkish soldier killed by Kurdish rebels as she joins thousands of high school students marching in the streets of the Turkish capital, Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011 to denounce the killing of 24 soldiers by Kurdish rebels. About 10,000 elite Turkish soldiers were taking part in a ground offensive against Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey and across the border in Iraq on Thursday, making it the nation's largest attack on the insurgents in more than three years, the military said. The offensive began Wednesday after Kurdish rebels carried out raids near the Turkey-Iraq border that killed 24 Turkish soldiers and wounded 18, the insurgents' deadliest one-day attacks against the military since the mid-1990s.(AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

Yeter Eroglu holds a photograph of his son, Murat Eroglu, 22, a Turkish soldier killed by Kurdish rebels as she joins thousands of high school students marching in the streets of the Turkish capital, Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011 to denounce the killing of 24 soldiers by Kurdish rebels. About 10,000 elite Turkish soldiers were taking part in a ground offensive against Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey and across the border in Iraq on Thursday, making it the nation's largest attack on the insurgents in more than three years, the military said. The offensive began Wednesday after Kurdish rebels carried out raids near the Turkey-Iraq border that killed 24 Turkish soldiers and wounded 18, the insurgents' deadliest one-day attacks against the military since the mid-1990s.(AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

Riot police, rear-right, surround demonstrators who were shouting slogans to protest against2 the Kurdish rebels and the government in the courtyard of Kocatepe Mosque during the funeral prayers for Yunus Yilmaz, one of 24 Turkish soldiers killed a day ago by Kurdish rebels at the border with Iraq, in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011. About 10,000 elite Turkish soldiers were taking part in a ground offensive against Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey and across the border in Iraq on Thursday, making it the nation's largest attack on the insurgents in more than three years, the military said. The offensive began Wednesday after Kurdish rebels carried out raids near the Turkey-Iraq border that killed 24 Turkish soldiers and wounded 18, the insurgents' deadliest one-day attacks against the military since the mid-1990s.(AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

A Turkish military helicopter flies toward Iraq near Cukurca, Hakkari, Turkey, at the border with Iraq, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011. About 10,000 elite Turkish soldiers were taking part in a ground offensive against Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey and across the border in Iraq on Thursday, making it the nation's largest attack on the insurgents in more than three years, the military said. The offensive began Wednesday after Kurdish rebels carried out raids near the Turkey-Iraq border that killed 24 Turkish soldiers and wounded 18, the insurgents' deadliest one-day attacks against the military since the mid-1990s.(AP Photo)

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, center, is surrounded by his security guards as he attends the funeral prayers for Yunus Yilmaz, one of 24 Turkish soldiers killed a day ago by Kurdish rebels at the border with Iraq, in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011. About 10,000 elite Turkish soldiers were taking part in a ground offensive against Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey and across the border in Iraq on Thursday, making it the nation's largest attack on the insurgents in more than three years, the military said. The offensive began Wednesday after Kurdish rebels carried out raids near the Turkey-Iraq border that killed 24 Turkish soldiers and wounded 18, the insurgents' deadliest one-day attacks against the military since the mid-1990s.(AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

Demonstrators shout slogans to protest against the Kurdish rebels and the government in the courtyard of Kocatepe Mosque during the funeral prayers for Yunus Yilmaz, one of 24 Turkish soldiers killed a day ago by Kurdish rebels at the border with Iraq, in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011. About 10,000 elite Turkish soldiers were taking part in a ground offensive against Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey and across the border in Iraq on Thursday, making it the nation's largest attack on the insurgents in more than three years, the military said. The offensive began Wednesday after Kurdish rebels carried out raids near the Turkey-Iraq border that killed 24 Turkish soldiers and wounded 18, the insurgents' deadliest one-day attacks against the military since the mid-1990s.(AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) ? Turkey and Iran vowed Friday to collaborate in their fight against Kurdish rebels, as thousands of Turkish troops pressed ahead with an air and ground offensive against the militants in northern Iraq for a third day.

The foreign ministers of Iran and Turkey announced plans to cooperate against rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, and its Iranian wing, the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan, or PJAK, during a joint news conference in Ankara. Both groups, labeled as terrorist organizations by the United States, have been fighting for Kurdish autonomy in their respective countries.

"Our joint determination to struggle against the PKK and the PJAK will continue in the strongest way," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said. "From now on, we will work together in a joint action plan until this terrorist threat is totally eliminated."

Turkey launched a cross-border offensive against Kurdish rebel hideouts in Iraq on Wednesday after 24 soldiers were killed by the rebels near the border town of Cukurca. It was the deadliest one-day toll against the military since the mid-1990s.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi claimed that the deaths of Turkish soldiers might have been avoided if the United States had informed Turkey that the rebels were infiltrating into Turkey with heavy weaponry. The U.S. shares intelligence from surveillance drones with Turkey about movement of Kurdish rebels along the border.

Salehi said the PKK and PJAK were "common problems" for both countries.

"We need to cooperate more seriously against them," Salehi said.

Turkey's cooperation with Iran against the rebels comes despite rifts with Tehran over a Turkish decision to host a NATO early warning radar as part of a missile defense system aimed at countering ballistic missile threats. Turkey is a U.S. ally but also benefits from friendly relations with Tehran both in trade and in fighting against the rebels.

It was not immediately clear what measures the two countries are planning to take against the Kurdish rebels, who have their main base on Qandil Mountain that sits on the Iraqi-Iranian border deep inside Iraq. Iranian artillery units have in the past fired salvos at Qandil, as Turkish warplanes staged bombing raids against suspected rebel bases there.

The rebels, however, reportedly rush into deep caves when they hear the whistling shells or the roar of the jets. And a ground offensive against Qandil is deemed highly risky and difficult since the area is allegedly heavily mined.

Turkish warplanes on Friday flew several bombing sorties against Qandil as well as rebel camps along the Iraqi border in Zap and Hakurk regions, the state-run TRT television said.

About 10,000 Turkish troops were pursuing Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey and across the border in Iraq. The number of troops that crossed into Iraq was not clear.

"The air and ground offensives mostly concentrate within Turkey and in Cukurca area, while air and ground operations are underway in a few areas across the border in northern Iraq," the military said in a statement Friday.

Turkey has launched more than two dozen air and ground incursions into northern Iraq over the 27 years of the insurgency, with mixed results. The rebels have returned to positions along the border soon after the troops have withdrawn. The current offensive was the largest attack on the insurgents in more than three years.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the current offensive sought "results."

"I can say that one of the most comprehensive operations is being carried out," Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin told NTV television Friday.

The military said the current operation includes commandos, special forces and paramilitary special forces ? elite forces trained in guerrilla warfare. They are being reinforced by F-16 and F-4 warplanes, Super Cobra helicopter gunships and surveillance drones.

The Sabah newspaper, without citing sources, said the troops had penetrated as deep as 15 miles (25 kilometers) into Iraq. The military would not share operational details.

Iraq on Thursday promised to stop the rebels from using Iraqi territory for future attacks against Turkey. It was not clear if Iraqi Kurdish forces will again assist Turkish troops against the Turkish Kurdish rebels as they did in the early 1990s.

The Kurdish rebel attack has fueled strong nationalist sentiment in Turkey. Tens of thousands of people, including high school students, took to the streets in protest Thursday, calling for tougher action against the rebels.

Turkey's conflict with the Kurdish rebels has killed tens of thousands of people since the insurgents took up arms to fight for autonomy in the country's Kurdish-dominated southeast in 1984.

___

Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser in Ankara contributed.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-10-21-EU-Turkey-Kurds/id-fb995fd5302b456a997dbcef581c941d

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Jon Bon Jovi Opens ?Pay What You Can? Restaurant In New Jersey

Jon Bon Jovi Opens “Pay What You Can” Restaurant In New Jersey

Rocker Jon Bon Jovi has opened a charity restaurant in New Jersey, where diners pay whatever they want to for the meal. The Soul Kitchen, [...]

Jon Bon Jovi Opens “Pay What You Can” Restaurant In New Jersey Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

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Microsoft HoloDesk: when you need to juggle something that isn't there (video)

If you'd thought that OmniTouch and PocketTouch were the end of Microsoft Research's natural user interface projects, think again. It's now released a video of the HoloDesk, a tool that lets you manipulate virtual 3D objects with your bare hands. Looking through a transparent display, the objects react nearly instantly, rolling from a sheet of real paper into a real cup and falling into shadow if you block the virtual light-source. The Cambridge lab that developed the tool sees uses in remote working, collaboration or device prototyping. If you hadn't guessed, there's a hacked Kinect at the heart of HoloDesk's DNA, which makes us wonder how long it'll be before we can use it to play Halo.

Microsoft HoloDesk: when you need to juggle something that isn't there (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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U.S. grand jury indicts two men in Saudi envoy plot (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? A U.S. grand jury on Thursday formally indicted two men suspected of being part of an Iranian plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington.

U.S. authorities announced last week they had foiled a plot by two men linked to Iran's security agencies to assassinate Saudi Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir.

One suspect was arrested in the United States last month and the other is believed to be in Iran.

Manssor Arbabsiar, 56, was arrested on September 29 when he arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport from Mexico.

U.S. officials say the other man, Gholam Shakuri, is a member of Iran's shadowy Quds Force, the covert operations arm of Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Both were initially charged in a criminal complaint.

Arbabsiar will have a chance to enter a plea to the charges on Monday, when he is scheduled to be arraigned. His defense attorney, Sabrina Shroff, has previously stated her client would plead not guilty.

Details that have emerged in the past week -- such as Arbabsiar's apparently bumbling nature and his approach to a supposed Mexican drug cartel figure who happened to be a U.S. federal informant -- have raised eyebrows among Iran specialists as to the seriousness of the plot.

Yet the consensus view in U.S. President Barack Obama's administration is that Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamanei, probably knew of the alleged plot to kill Saudi Arabia's ambassador in Washington, while President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did not.

The two men are charged with one count of conspiracy to murder a foreign official, two counts of use of interstate and foreign commerce facilities in the commission of murder for hire and one count each of conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism.

U.S. District Judge John Keenan will oversee the case in Manhattan federal court.

(Reporting by Basil Katz, editing by Michelle Nichols and Todd Eastham)

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Studemont Kroger update (Offthekuff)

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