What to Watch New Year's Weekend: Your Guide to 10 Specials, a Fierce Football Finale and More

December 29, 2012 06:30 PM PST

Well before and right up until the ball drops on New Year?s Eve, there is TV to be had as you prepare to bid adieu to 2-0-1-2. There?s a serious face-off in the Sunday Night Football season finale, a fresh slab of bacon-themed programming, a Herculean marathon and then countdown specials for every stripe of viewer out there. Here are the programs we have singled out, in 10?! 9?! 8?! 7?.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 30

7:30 pm Call the Midwife Holiday Special (PBS) | In this 90-minute episode, Nurse Jenny Lee tries to find the children of an elderly vagrant and Chummy plans an ambitious nativity play.

8:20 pm Sunday Night Football (NBC) | The franchise?s 26th season heads for the end zone as the Cowboys ? who need to win to play in the postseason ? visit the Redskins.

10 pm United States of Bacon (Destination America) | Chef Todd Fisher tackles another kind of pigskin in this new series, as he traverses America in search of the most mouth-watering, sensory-overloading bacon creations out there.

10 pm How It?s Made (Science) | What will be the 1,000th product demystified during this momentous episode: cycling shoes, yurts, marine plywood or encaustic paint? (And do I have to know what encaustic paint is before I find out how it?s created?)

MONDAY, DECEMBER 31

8 pm ? 6 am Hercules: The Legendary Journeys marathon (The Hub) | If your 2012 just didn?t have enough Kevin Sorbo in it, make up for lost time with 10 back-to-back episodes of the fantasy-action series.

8 pm New Year?s Rockin? Eve Celebrates Dick Clark (ABC) | In this two-hour preface to ABC?s countdown show, Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas and Love in the Wild?s Jenny McCarthy look at the career of the legendary TV producer and personality, who passed away in April.

8 pm Live from Lincoln Center (PBS) | Private Practice?s Audra McDonald hosts One Singular Sensation,?The New York Philharmonic?s live tribute to Marvin Hamlisch (who, before his death in August, was scheduled to conduct the concert). Megan Hilty (Smash) and Ra?l Esparza (Law & Order: SVU) are scheduled to perform.

10 pm New Year?s Eve With Carson Daly (NBC) | Voice victor Cassadee Pope, Train and The Office?s Angela Kinsey join Daly for the annual countdown to the new year, broadcast from New York?s Times Square. (The special pauses for local news at 11 pm, then resumes at 11:30.)

10 pm Dick Clark?s New Year?s Rockin? Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2013 (ABC) | Ryan Seacrest and Jenny McCarthy bid the old year adieu from New York ? for the first time without Clark?s presence ? while Fergie leads revelers in Los Angeles. (The special pauses for local news at 11 pm, then resumes at 11:30.)

10 pm New Year?s Eve With Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin (CNN) | The title says it all. (Check out some of the duo?s greatest hits.)

11 pm New Year?s Eve Live! (Fox) |X Factor champ Tate Stevens, musical group Lifehouse, Carmen Electra (Baywatch) and host Marlon Wayans (In Living Color) lead an evening of entertainment broadcast from Las Vegas? Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino.

11 pm All-American New Year (Fox News Channel) | Pat Benatar, Sarah Brightman and the cast of the musical Million Dollar Quartet join Bill Hemmer, Megyn Kelly and other FNC personalities.

11 pm MTV?s Club NYE 2013 (MTV) | Hosts: Jersey Shore?s Jenni ?JWOWW? Farley and Money From Strangers? Jeff Dye. Performers: Ke$ha, Ne-Yo, Sean Kingston, Rita Ora and Conor Maynard. Me: Too old.

11:30 pm Eric Andre?s LIVE New Year?s Eve Spooktacular (Adult Swim) | The comedian brings in celebrity guests like X Factor?s Demi Lovato, The Apprentice?s Omarosa and Hercules? Kevin Sorbo for a classic countdown with a few twists (competitive eating, marching bands and the like).

Hit the comments with your picks from the New Year?s weekend lineup!

Source: http://tvline.com/2012/12/29/new-years-2013-marathons-specials/

james cameron liam hemsworth miss canada justin bieber boyfriend marianas trench camille grammer camille grammer

Samsung faces some tough remedies in its ITC patent battle with Apple

On October 24th, ITC Judge Thomas Pender ruled that Samsung infringed on several Apple patents. But it wasn't until the release of? the full-length version of Pender's ruling on Friday, that it became apparent how damaging the decision could be to Samsung's U.S. business. If the ITC goes along and affirms Judge Pender's ruling, which the staff agrees with, Samsung could find some of its devices banned during a 60 day Presidential review period that would follow a final ITC decision. Pender's decision must be voted on by the six-member commission.

Samsung also could face at the same time, a cease and desist order that would prevent the company from selling large quantities of infringing products in the U.S. At the same time, Samsung could be required to post a bond equal to 88% of? the value of all mobile phones, 32.5% of the value of mobile players and 37.6% of the value of all tablets that were ruled to have infringed on Apple's patents, during the Presidential review period. Samsung argued that a royalty rate of 4.9% was more appropriate.

Thankfully for Samsung, Judge Pender did approve design changes made by the Korean manufacturer that worksaround the claims made by Apple. These designarounds allow Samsung to continue to sell certain products in the U.S. even in the face of the October decision. And one of the patents involved in this case, the so-called "Steve Jobs" patent, has been ruled invalid by the USPTO. Despite the designarounds, Samsung could still be required to post a bond on the devices that no longer infringe on Apple's patents. Even worse, customs could still hold up shipments of these products until the agency is 100% sure that an exclusion order doesn't apply to the re-designed devices.

These are just some of the remedies that could be used against Samsung. The commission still needs to vote on Pender's ruling, and the designarounds seem to mean that it is still business as usual in the states for Samsung, at least for now.

source: FOSSPatents

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PhoneArena-LatestNews/~3/Am-yZuT_9gw/Samsung-faces-some-tough-remedies-in-its-ITC-patent-battle-with-Apple_id38151

isiah thomas passover easter recipes live free or die hard carlos pena amanda bynes arrested f 18

New era of eBook dominance has begun | Industry Leaders Magazine

Era of e-book dominance has begun

Is the centuries-old publishing business going to disappear for good? Probably not? But the latest survey shows that certainly a new era of e-book dominance has begun. And all this is because of fascination with digital tablets which are a main driver of a fundamental change in how Americans and also other nations read books. According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, e-book reading is growing at unexpectedly fast rate.

eBooks? appealing magic

The survey shows that the share of Americans age 16 and older who read e-books climbed to about 23 percent from nearly 16 percent a year ago. In addition, the number of people who read printed books decreased to approximately 67 percent from roughly 72 percent in 2011.

Researchers are convinced that the spectacular change in reading habits was introduced by the growing popularity of tablets and e-reader devices. Not unexpectedly, the findings of the survey indicate that e-book readers are also owners of an e-reading device such as a tablet computer or e-reader. Approximately one-third of Americans ages 16 and older own at least one of the aforementioned devices.

The findings of the survey also indicate that there are three main groups of e-book readers:

• People with college and graduate degrees
• People living in households earning over $75,000
• People in age range from 30 and 49

Even though the number of people aware that libraries offer e-books grew to approximately 31 percent from roughly 24 percent in 2011, libraries might be in trouble as the share of people borrowing e-books from them only increased to 5 percent from just 3 percent a year ago.

With the increasing popularity of tablets, including the Apple Inc.?s iPad, people want to have them and use them. Other companies such as Google Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. also try to take advantage of growing demand for e-book devices, thereby introducing their own products. And to have their own piece of pie, they launched lower-priced products including the Google Nexus Tablet and Amazon?s Kindle Fire.?Certainly the introduction of less costly e-book devices had a significant impact on the growth of e-book readers. According to IDC, a technology research firm, projected that tablet sales would grow to over 122 million in 2012.

Future of printed books

One may ask: ?So does it mean that printed books are going to fade away?? Certainly printed books will not disappear as they are better gifts than e-books, that is for sure. But everything indicates that these days we are witnessing some kind of revolution which is taking us into the future world of e/books.? Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, underlined the significance of the ongoing revolutionary change in the book environment, adding that the shift would also introduce a social transition as well.

But the visible change in the book experience also has an impact on the economics of book publishing businesses. For example,?Barnes & Noble Inc., a U.S. book retailer, is struggling to adjust to the new digital world. Bertelsmann SE & Co. and Pearson Plc have been negotiating on a merger of their publishing divisions as they believe that the merged entity would have a better chance to cope with all challenges of the contemporary world.

Currently publishers are facing many problems as they are trying to adapt to new conditions. The transition is not that simple as e-book sales are dominated by Amazon.com Inc. This change in the world of books cannot be stopped, yet many companies need to learn how to play the new game. And even though it is certain that one day e-books will become dominant, printed books will surely not disappear. At least some hope so.

Source: http://www.industryleadersmagazine.com/new-era-of-ebook-dominance-has-begun/

new england patriots superbowl halftime madonna madonna papa johns guacamole recipe ufc 143 results

The First Gaming Console Made Christmas So Much Better

The greatest development in the history of Christmas presents was the Magnavox Odyssey. It's incontrovertible. Not for its success or awesomeness?it sorta flopped?but for beginning the worldwide institution of Video Games for Christmas.

When it comes to Christmas presents before the age of, say, 19, there are video games, and then there's literally anything else. Need proof? Look at our list of kids freaking out about Christmas gadgets. No one's ever been as happy about anything as the N64 kid was about his damn video games. Or look at Buzzfeed's list of the best techy Christmas gift every year since 1985. Basically every single console is on there.

And it wasn't just the consoles that made Christmas great, though New Console Year was especially great. It was the way games buffered all your other Christmases from being a parade of sweaters and, ugh, booksM/em>. So here's to you, goofy-looking Magnavox Odyssey. Thanks for starting the best Christmas tradition ever.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5971477/the-first-gaming-console-made-christmas-so-much-better

boston weather dr seuss birthday jennifer garner jennifer garner romney michigan derrick williams railgun

Obama criticizes Congress; senators take over negotiations (Washington Bureau)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/273674094?client_source=feed&format=rss

Helen Gurley Brown Kathi Goertzen Johnny Pesky spice girls justin theroux Bumbo recall USA Basketball

Toshiba to show reference design for SDHC card with TransferJet at CES

SD cards won't be generating the same feverish hype as other gear breaking cover at CES, but nevertheless, Toshiba's let the world know it'll be bringing a new one to the show. The company won't have a finished product to flog, but instead will be exhibiting a reference design for an SDHC card with TransferJet technology. For those unfamiliar with TransferJet, it's a high-speed wireless transfer technology for sending and receiving files over short distances. While it isn't used nearly as much as its transfer protocol peers, hopefully it'll find some work to do if and when Toshiba takes its card from design to product.

Continue reading Toshiba to show reference design for SDHC card with TransferJet at CES

Filed under: Wireless, Storage

Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/ucMbRmvwm0s/

Alexis DeJoria danica patrick sweet potato casserole turkey Pumpkin Pie Recipe wii u wii u

csr-reporting: In Good Spirit: Smarter Reporting at Diageo

?

?Recently, I took?opportunity to chat with Carolyn Panzer, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility for Diageo plc. Carolyn?is responsible developing and overseeing the strategy for community investment, external reporting, and alcohol in society - including, responsible drinking initiatives, responsible marketing and innovation, and alcohol policy. Carolyn is also the Chairperson of the Distilled Spirits Council's Code Review Board and has nearly 30 years of experience in the beverage alcohol industry, working across industry sectors in both the US and UK.

Carolyn will be talking about: "Participating in indices and rankings - how does this contribute to reporting best practice?" at the February conference.

?

"The reporting process helps me enormously. It makes us think about our data more and understand our impacts. Smarter Reporting for me is embedding the reporting process in the business - making everybody accountable. Actually, our people really appreciate hearing our story and participating."

?

"For me, one of the most challenging things about my role is that Diageo is a big company and keeping on top of everything that is going on in the business, keeping up-to-date and having the headspace to keep on track is a major exercise in time-management. This can occasionally make me feel vulnerable, I feel I should know everything about everything, but obviously that's not possible. My secret for keeping on top is to rely on others to know the detail. Not only does this help me, it empowers the organization to own sustainability. I don't make it easy for the business. I help them take accountability and own their role in advancing our sustainability and responsible drinking programs. This is now paying huge dividends."

Diageo is the world's leading premium drinks business with beverage alcohol brands across spirits, beer and wine including Johnnie Walker ?and Bushmills whiskies, Smirnoff? Vodka,?Baileys, Captain Morgan, Guinness and more. Headquartered in the UK, Diageo trades in 180 countries and employs around 24,000 people with net sales of almost GBP10 billion. Diageo manufactures and supplies its brands its brands in?43 distilleries, 16 breweries, 13 wineries, 19 packaging and blending operations, 9 warehouses and 8 other sites.

?

?

"This year's report has a lot more?engagement - we pushed people to align more closely?with?GRI indicators. We also we did better on the materiality piece. We conducted a market pilot study and now we plan to take that forward and expand it. Also, we tried to use more everyday language and less "corporate-speak", and, in the presentation of the report, we?tried to make it layered. We recognize that not one size fits all and that different stakeholders look for different things, so we opted for a?five-minute-read approach. You can?you go in and read different sections at a general level or dig deeper for more detail."?
The Diageo report this year demonstrated good performance achievements against a range of key metrics against several multi-year quantitative targets within the context of a well-laid out strategy. For example, water efficiency improved by 7.2% in 2012, on track to meet a 30% objective by 2015 against a 2007 baseline. Average packaging weight has reduced by 1.6%, on track to meet a 10% target over the same period, bringing the cumulative total to 4.8% reduction. Lost-time accident frequency rate reduced by 43% in 2012,?overachieving a 40% target for 2010-2012?by 17%, showing?good progress in embedding a safe working culture.? However, by far the most material?issue for Diageo relates to the role of alcohol in society and Diageo's responsibilities to address alcohol misuse. Diageo's report states: "In all [stakeholder] workshops, addressing alcohol abuse and promoting responsible drinking was consistently the most important issue for stakeholders as well to us as a company."

?

?

I asked Carolyn Panzer about how Diageo assesses the impact of its multiple activities in this area:

"Alcohol problems are not new and there have been many initiatives to address these. You can count thousands of initiatives by the alcohol industry, but the real question is what is effective? Where do you focus your resources to achieve the biggest impact? We want to tackle the issue of problem drinkers. Raising taxes on alcohol, for example, is not necessarily effective for problem users as there will always be a way around this."

A case in point is the situation in Keyna where it was estimated that about 50% of alcohol consumed was in the illicit sector. This was problematic, as such products were often made with harmful ingredients which caused illness or even death. Diageo redesigned its entire supply chain to create a new product made from locally sourced ingredients using innovative technology representing a first in the industry and significantly reducing costs for local supply of a safe, quality beer beverage called Senator Keg, costing one fifth the price of Diageo's mainstream beer. Since its launch, the brand has gained 40% of the Kenyan beer market. It's well worth reading this case study in Business Today about the Senator Keg story.?This is a fabulous example of how Diageo can support changes in consumer behavior around alcohol. This is the true value of how an alcohol company can work with consumers and local organizations to understand specific issues and behavior patterns and help create breakthrough change which adds value to society and, of course, to the business.


In the area of problem drinking, Carolyn continues: "There are some things that we know work. First, screening and brief intervention demonstrates proven efficacy with problem drinkers. Screening individuals through a set of ten questions and engaging them in a conversation about risks helps people reduce problem drinking. We have provided grants to support this kind of activity. Second, high visibility enforcement of the law on drink-driving is effective. Not every country, for example, has a maximum drink-driving limit. We work to support introduction of legislation in this area in countries where this is not present. However, even where there is a legal limit, highly visible enforcement is key. For example, in Mexico City, we ran a campaign in partnership with the local law enforcement authorities, in which we contributed 50,000 breathalyzer kits. Drink-driving reduced by 30%. There is an important continuum that you need to follow to?achieve change. We need to ensure the right regulations? as well as build general awareness. In the U.S., we spend 20% of our broadcasting spending on responsible drinking messages. We always try to work in partnership with other organizations and groups to ensure we have the best understanding of the issues and the best expertise on board to move forward."

Finally, all Diageo employees have a role to play in advancing responsible drinking behavior. Carolyn says: "We are always trying to connect our people with our CSR story, and we ensure they are involved and informed of our initiatives in this area. For example, over the Holiday Season, we campaign our employees with the need for extra vigilance and their role as responsible drinking ambassadors."

As?it is still the Holiday Season, this is great advice for all the CSR Reporting Blog Readers. I am not much of a drinker myself, actually. Personally, I am more concerned with ice-cream rather than alcohol. If ever there are laws which limit ice-cream consumption prior to driving, I may have a bit of a problem.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Looking forward to seeing you at the Smarter Sustainability Reporting Conference in February 2013. Don't forget to drop me a line for your registration discount code!
?

?

?

elaine cohen, CSR consultant, winning (CRRA'12) Sustainability Reporter, HR Professional, Ice Cream Addict. Author of CSR for HR: A necessary partnership for advancing responsible business practices? Contact me via www.twitter.com/elainecohen ? on Twitter or via my business website www.b-yond.biz ?(Beyond Business Ltd, an inspired CSR consulting and Sustainability Reporting firm)

Source: http://csr-reporting.blogspot.com/2012/12/in-good-spirit-smarter-reporting-at.html

ferris bueller god bless america earned income credit super bowl commercials florida primary 2012 super bowl matthew broderick