So if you have been reading TDL for any amount of time, you know that I am on a constant mission to get in better shape and lose the belly fat.
It?s a process.
I haven?t really hit the gym in about a month, since right before Christmas. But all that changes today; I?m back at it. I have been in Ojai writing a book and I had no idea how intense a process that would be.
So for my next book I will design more health and fitness into my schedule.
But the good news is, as I?ve recently blogged about, I have taken massive leaps forward towards getting all processed sugar, agave, coconut sugar, etc. out of my diet. This is a life-long addiction that I have struggled with. I?ve kicked cocaine, but for me, sugar is harder ? because it?s acceptable.
When I was meeting the other week with my Chinese medicine doctor, she told me that no amount of exercise or diet will ever keep me at a healthy weight if I hate myself and my belly fat.
But there is one key component that will.
What is it?
Self-love.
I know, I didn?t want to hear it either. I was so tired of hearing that you have to ?love yourself? to your ideal weight. It?s like one of those silly clich?s that I?m sick of hearing, because I hear it ALL the time.
So on my way to an event that I was going to later that night, I thought about a friend of mine who I haven?t seen in a while. She lost A LOT of weight really quickly and got down to like 3-5% body fat.? She was always my idol in this way.
Knowing what I know about this person, I?m pretty sure she didn?t love herself. So I decided that my Chinese doc was full of it and I didn?t want to pay attention to this clich?.
Well, when I arrived at the event I was going to, my friend was there. And ? she had put on all the weight again. In fact, she had put on even MORE weight than when she was at her heaviest.
And it was almost like The Divine was saying to me, ?You are right, she didn?t love herself and so she didn?t keep the weight off.?
And the words of my Chinese medicine doctor rang true ? you can?t keep weight off ?sustainably? without self-love.
And from that moment forward, I got it ? time to LOVE the belly fat.
So, what to do? Well, every time I?m feeling like I?m ?fat? or not loving that part of my body, I stop and send LOVE down there.
As I was doing this the other day, I had a flash back to when I was 5 or 6 and trying on some clothes I REALLY wanted to wear in a department store.
But ? they didn?t fit. In fact, they didn?t have any clothes that fit me in the store.
I got SO angry. I was mad at myself. I didn?t understand why I was so weird, that I couldn?t be like everyone else.
And in that moment, my self-hate started. And it?s stayed with me ever since.
And now, 26 years later, I am face to face with it and trying my best ? one day at a time ? to Love myself and the parts of myself that I don?t.
What?s so cool is that when I do send Love down there, my anxiety chills. And those food cravings that I?m so used to chill, too. Why? I?m not totally sure, but it seems like that self-hate is stressful and that it has been fueling the cycle of overeating.
So, inject a little self-love ? and that goes away. It?s a new practice, but something I am now looking forward to doing.
I?m EXCITED to see what doing this and keeping the sugar out will manifest in my life. It?s unknown territory that I am eager to explore.
Where can your life use a little self-love?
As always, the action happens in the comments below. Leave a comment and join the conversation! The TDL Community thrives in the comments and it?s a GREAT place to get support!
Love,
Mastin
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Mastin Kipp is the founder and CEO of The Daily Love. Follow him on Twitter here.
Take what resonates with you in this blog and leave the rest.
The deck patio is considered to be one of the most intriguing and most visited places in any home, as it is known to really increase the value of any home. There are tons of new trends out there that most homeowners are currently unaware of. Sometimes, people don?t really think that it is necessary to renovate their home deck because they believe that it already looks completely fine. However, if you wish to have a home that is up to date with all the new trends, then it is recommended that you learn all about the new trends that can fit perfectly in a deck. The great thing about decks is the fact that they are the most dynamic parts of any home. They have the capability to change into a very classy old design and a modern design in just a matter of changing its furniture.
Top Trends In Deck Patio Design
Modern Style One of the most popular trends for decks is the modern style, as modern decks have a very cozy and comfortable feel for simply anyone in any age. Modern styled decks happen to be the easiest to create, as the furniture needed isn?t difficult to find whatsoever. The easiest way to create a modern styled deck is to have very vibrantly bright colored furniture. Bright colored furniture is what represents and creates the modern appeal to the deck. You can have very bright couches, pillows, tables and basically all types of vibrant furniture. Straight lines on simple designed modern patio sofas will help distinguish your patio as unique.
Retro Style The retro styled deck is also very popular because it has the capability to make a simple deck look very expensive. The types of furniture you will need to create a retro feel are glass tables, white chairs, and white couches. White and glass is what makes a certain place look retro. To really get the perfect retro feel, you should consider adding a small white boxed chandelier hung on your umbrella because it will really complete the entire look.
Nature Approach
The nature approach to deck styling is also highly trendy nowadays, as people have gained so much interest in achieving an Eco friendly home. Basically, all you need to do to achieve this look is buy woodsy furniture and a very caramelized colored furniture. Caramel has a very natured look to it making it a very popular color when buying furniture to create the nature look.
Elegant Approach Elegant approach is sort of a mix of the retro and modern styles but with a different twist. Basically, the main colors that this style will be using are gold, white, and peach. The reason to this is that these colors are highly elegant looking and really are the color definition of elegant. Simply buy furniture in these colors and make sure that the furniture you buy complements the colors and create compromise to not really overdo the entire elegant style.
What To Implement In A Deck
Light Torch One of the greatest furniture pieces that you should implement to your deck regardless of the style you choose is a light torch. Light torches look awesome in simply all types of styles, plus they make a great accent whenever it is nighttime. Light torches are perfect for families that seem to always hangout outdoors because they can easily be turned on whenever you need light.
Elegant Canopy An elegant canopy works perfectly for the elegant approach above, as it will really complete your entire deck. You could use any colored canopy you desire, as all colors will look perfect in your deck. Elegant canopies are very helpful and beneficial because they actually fight off bugs when they are used. This is a perfect piece of furniture for places that seem to always have flies and mosquitoes.
Rocking Chair/Couch Rocking chairs and couches really have a very relaxing look to it, because they make a simple deck look complete. Just make sure that the rocking chair or couch you buy suits perfectly with the style you chose. Rocking chairs and couches are also a great place for you and your family to hang out in and relax, as they really have a great act in relaxing people?s minds and bodies.
This Super Bowl will be filled with firsts ? and one significant last.
The Harbaughs, San Francisco's Jim and Baltimore's John, will be the first pair of brothers to coach against each other in the NFL title game.
Quarterbacks Colin Kaepernick of the 49ers and Joe Flacco of the Ravens each will be playing in his first Super Bowl ? where success is the ultimate measure of elite QBs.
It'll be Baltimore's first crack at a championship in a dozen years, San Francisco's first in 18. They are a combined 6-0 in Super Bowls (the 49ers own five of those victories), so one club will lose the big game for the first time.
And middle linebacker Ray Lewis, Baltimore's emotional leader and top tackler, will be playing in the final game of his 17-year career before heading into retirement.
"This is our time," Lewis pronounced.
For all of those story lines, none is expected to command as much attention as Harbaugh vs. Harbaugh. The game in New Orleans on Feb. 3 was quickly given all manner of nicknames: The Brother Bowl. The Harbaugh Bowl. The Har-Bowl. The Super-Baugh.
The Harbaughs' sister, Joani Crean, wrote in a text to The Associated Press: "Overwhelmed with pride for John, Jim and their families! They deserve all that has come their way! Team Harbaugh!"
As John prepared to coach the Ravens in the AFC championship game Sunday night, he watched on the stadium's big video screen as Jim's 49ers wrapped up the NFC championship.
John looked into a nearby TV camera, smiled broadly and said: "Hey, Jim, congratulations. You did it. You're a great coach. Love you."
Less than four hours later, the Ravens won, too. Some siblings try to beat each other in backyard games. These guys will do it in the biggest game of all.
Who's a parent to cheer for?
During the 2011 regular season, the Harbaughs became the only brothers to coach against each other in any NFL game (the Ravens beat the 49ers 16-6 on Thanksgiving Day that year).
The NFC West champion 49ers (13-4-1) opened as 5-point favorites, seeking a record-tying sixth Super Bowl title to add to those won by Hall of Fame quarterbacks Joe Montana and Steve Young.
Lewis was the MVP when the AFC North champion Ravens (13-6) beat the New York Giants in 2001.
With Kaepernick's terrific passing ? he was 16 of 21 for 233 yards and a touchdown in only his ninth career NFL start ? and two TD runs by Frank Gore, San Francisco erased a 17-point deficit to beat the Atlanta Falcons 28-24 Sunday.
Baltimore then fashioned a comeback of its own, scoring the last 21 points to defeat the New England Patriots 28-13, thanks in large part to Flacco's three second-half touchdown tosses, two to Anquan Boldin. Lewis and the rest of Baltimore's defense limited the high-scoring Patriots to one touchdown.
In the often risk-averse NFL, each Harbaugh made a critical change late in the regular season in a bid to boost his team's postseason chances. Clearly, both moves worked.
After 49ers quarterback Alex Smith, the starter in last season's overtime NFC title game loss to the Giants, got a concussion, Jim switched to Kaepernick for Week 11 ? and never switched back. Now San Francisco has its first three-game winning streak of the season, at precisely the right time.
Baltimore, meanwhile, was in the midst of a three-game losing streak when John fired offensive coordinator Cam Cameron and promoted quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell to replace him.
The 50-year-old John is 15 months older than Jim and generally the less demonstrative of the pair, although John certainly did not lack intensity while making his case with officials a couple of times Sunday.
The ever-excitable Jim ? who was treated for an irregular heartbeat in November ? was up to his usual sideline antics in Atlanta.
He spun around and sent his headset flying when the original call stood after he threw his red challenge flag on a catch by the Falcons. He hopped and yelled at his defense to get off the field after their key fourth-down stop with less than 1? minutes left. He made an emphatic-as-can-be timeout signal with 13 seconds remaining.
Expect CBS to fill plenty of time during its Super Bowl broadcast with shots of Jim, that trademark red pen dangling in front of his chest, and John, who usually wears a black Ravens hat. That is sure to be a focal point, right up until they meet for a postgame handshake in two weeks' time.
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AP Sports Writer Janie McCauley in San Francisco contributed to this report.
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Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich
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Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's government is open to improving troubled ties with Washington and is considering a U.S. proposal for the return of anti-drug agents kicked out of the country eight years ago by President Hugo Chavez, a senior official said.
There has been no word from Chavez since he had cancer surgery in Cuba five weeks ago, so every move the government makes in his absence is being picked over for clues to what the OPEC nation might look like in a post-Chavez era.
Speaking to Telesur, a TV network set up by Chavez to counter Western media influence, Venezuela's ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), Roy Chaderton, said U.S.-Venezuela relations were "not hot, not cold. Zero degrees".
But he said there were efforts to find common ground.
"There are things that are being done with a great deal of seriousness and a lot of caution," he said late on Saturday.
"We are not obliged to have bad ties with governments which have different visions to ours ... I hope pragmatism prevails in this initiative and we reach a fair place of mutual interest."
Officials say Chavez's condition is improving but delicate after the 58-year-old suffered complications from his surgery in Havana on December 11, his fourth operation in just 18 months.
Many Venezuelans suspect, however, that the socialist's 14 years in power - during which his fiery criticism of the United States helped turn him into one of the world's most recognizable and polarizing leaders - may be coming to an end.
In one typically headline-grabbing move, Chavez halted cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in 2005 after accusing its agents of spying.
Venezuela, which shares a long, largely unpoliced border with Colombia, has become a transshipment point for Colombian cocaine on its way to consumer nations.
TARGETING DRUGLORDS
Asked about the possible return of DEA agents to Venezuela, Chaderton confirmed it was being discussed. "It is one of the many hopes of the United States and it is a proposal," he said.
"Our government will decide, the competent national authorities, the justice minister, the director of the O.N.A. (anti-drug agency)," he said. "It is a matter which has to be studied by the politicians and the experts."
The government says it has invested heavily in fighting narcotics and points to the extradition to Colombia and the United States of high profile accused drug lords as evidence of its efforts. It has also taken part in joint operations.
In September, Venezuelan officers captured a top Colombian trafficker, Daniel "Crazy" Barrera, near the border in a raid that Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos said was directed from Washington by a Colombian general and included the help of U.S. and British intelligence agencies.
The latest political spat between Washington and Caracas took place as recently as December, when Venezuelan officials were furious after President Barack Obama criticized the ailing Chavez's "authoritarian policies and suppression of dissent".
Venezuela's government called them "despicable comments at such a delicate moment", and said Obama was responsible for a major deterioration in relations.
Spurred on by years of Chavez's tirades about the "Yankee empire", many of his loyal supporters suspect the United States of being behind a wide range of threats to his self-styled revolution - including a coup that briefly toppled him in 2002.
Stressing the need for mutual respect, Chaderton couched his talk of better ties in caution, stressing that Venezuela needed no U.S. stamp of approval or card of good conduct.
"We are not going to take part in an improvement of relations at the cost of being 'certified' by those who have no authority to do so," he said.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - This time they got it right.
President Barack Obama and Chief Justice John Roberts, who flubbed the oath of office in a public inauguration ceremony four years ago, made it through without mistakes on Sunday at a private gathering that launched the Democrat's second term.
Shortly before noon on a sunny day, Roberts, dressed in his traditional dark robe, strode into the oval-shaped White House Blue Room and positioned himself, with cue card in hand, at the edge of a light beam streaming in through the window.
Obama, dressed in a suit, followed and planted himself opposite the chief justice. His wife, Michelle, and daughters Malia and Sasha, rounded out the tableau.
Roberts asked Obama to raise his right hand and repeat after him.
"I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear," he began, using the president's full name. Obama repeated the oath, with his left hand on a Bible, held by his smiling wife.
Roberts, not wanting to repeat the mistake of 2009, looked down at his card and read most of its words, which Obama repeated, promising to faithfully execute the office of president of the United States. Only at the end, including the final phrase "so help you God," did Roberts keep his head up to maintain eye contact with the president.
After concluding the oath, the two men smiled and shook hands, visibly relieved. Roberts congratulated the president and Obama thanked him. The whole procedure lasted less than one minute. No mess-ups, no flubs.
"Good job, Dad," 11-year-old Sasha said.
"I did it," the president exclaimed.
The last time Obama and Roberts met at the White House for a swearing-in, the circumstances were different. Roberts had mixed up his words when administering the oath at the ceremony in front of the Capitol, causing Obama to do the same.
So the next day, they came together at the White House and did it again - without mistakes - in the Map Room. Only a handful of people were present, including four reporters.
The first lady and Obama's daughters were not there. Television cameras were prohibited and press photographers were not invited.
This year, the need for a private ceremony came from the constitutional requirement that the oath be taken on January 20. Because that fell on a Sunday, the president did the official swearing-in at the White House and will repeat the procedure on Monday for a public celebration.
FAMILY MEMBERS ATTEND
Michelle Obama wore a deep blue dress by designer Reed Krakoff, according to a White House official. The girls wore stylish dresses as well, with Malia in blue and Sasha in fuchsia.
A small group of close family members watched from the side of the room, including the first lady's mother, Marian Robinson, brother Craig Robinson and his family. The president's half sisters Auma Obama and Maya Soetoro-Ng and her family also attended, along with close family friends "Mama Kaye" Wilson and Wellington Wilson.
The family was ushered into the Blue Room shortly before the ceremony began. Roberts' wife, Jane, stood next to them.
The Blue Room was emptied of its traditional furniture, which had been moved to the large East Room instead.
A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling from a chord that was wrapped in velvety-blue material, and the portraits of past presidents including John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison adorned the walls.
White House spokesman Jay Carney along with a handful of journalists and photographers made up the rest of the small group in attendance.
A NASA spacecraft that constantly stares at the sun for signs of solar storms snaps images and videos so detailed that even the latest ultra-high-definition televisions can't keep up.
The spacecraft, called the Solar Dynamics Observatory, is responsible for some of the most?amazing photos of solar flares?and other sun weather events. Its instruments?record images at a whopping resolution of 4,096 by 4,096 pixels, more than four times the resolution an average HD television.
SDO sun images are even recorded in higher definition than the newly released "Ultra-HD TV" machines unveiled at the?2013 Consumer Electronics Showcase?earlier this month. While Ultra-HD TVs have about four times the resolution of an average HD TV, the SDO photos are still twice as large as an Ultra-HD screen, NASA officials said in a statement.
"Such detailed pictures show features on the sun that are as small as 200 miles across, helping researchers observe such things as what causes giant eruptions on the sun known as coronal mass ejections (CME) that can travel toward Earth and interfere with our satellites," they explained.
While features 200 miles (322 kilometers) across sound large, the sun itself is 864,938 miles (1.3 million km) in diameter.
NASA's SDO mission launched in February 2010 to record unprecedented views of the sun, solar flares and other space weather events. As of December 2012, the spacecraft had captured more than 100 million images of the sun, about the equivalent of eight hours of TV programming a day for four months, mission managers said.
The SDO spacecraft is one of several space observatories keeping a constant watch on the sun. NASA's twin Stereo spacecraft and the NASA/ESA SOHO spacecraft also provide daily views of the Earth's closest star.
Follow Miriam Kramer on Twitter?@mirikramer?or SPACE.com?@Spacedotcom. We're also on?Facebook?&?Google+.?
Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
SEO results aren?t instant. The results of SEO work done today might not become apparent, and might not be credited by search engines, for weeks, or even months.
You don?t need to submit your website to search engines. They have evolved beyond the point of needing to be directly notified when a new website, or page on a website, is created.
Set-up a Google+ page for your business. Doing so builds trust with Google and improves rankings for localised keywords.
Diversify your traffic sources. Google is a great source of traffic but being 100% reliant on them for visitors puts you in a vulnerable position.
Low quality equals high risk. Low quality backlinks and/or low quality on-site content can easily result in your site being penalised by search engines.
Create content primarily for people, not search engines. There?s no point creating content that ranks well if it doesn?t help people, interest them, or persuade them to buy from you.
Remove duplicate content. You can be penalised for having the same, or very similar, content on multiple pages of your site.
Remove, merge or add to pages with little content on them. Having lots of content-light pages, with short page view times, can result in search engines downgrading all of your site?s keyword rankings.
Claim authorship of your content. Linking your Google+ account to your content improves both rankings and click-through-rate.
Ensure your content is good enough to be on the 1st page. If your content isn?t better than the content already on the 1st page for a keyword then your site doesn?t deserve to rank there.
Make your content engaging for visitors. The more engaging it is, the longer people will stay on your site, and high viewing times signal to search engines that your site deserves good rankings.
Create content to post on other websites and blogs. People are much more likely to link to you if you provide them with content to use on their site.
Balance creating content with marketing content. If you create content without marketing it then people will struggle to find it, and if they can?t find it they can?t link to it or share it.
Write a unique, descriptive title for every page. Within 65 characters you need to make the topic of a page clear to both humans and search engines.
Write a unique, descriptive meta description for every page. Within 160 characters you need to describe the topic of a page in a way that persuades people to click on your site instead of the other sites listed in the search results.
Research keywords before optimising for them. If you choose the wrong keywords, regardless of what you do for on-site and off-site SEO, you?ll get very few visitors and/or visitors who don?t convert into sales.
Use Google?s Keyword Tool. It provides a good list of words and phrases related to the keyword ideas that you enter into it.
Get keyword ideas from other people. They (customers, suppliers, partners, friends, etc.) see your business differently to you and may associate different words and phrases with it.
Long-tail keywords are a great source of traffic. It?s quicker and cheaper to rank for longer, specific keyword phrases, and more than 40% of searches are comprised of four or more words.
Dedicate 1 page of your website to each keyword that you?re targeting. Doing so makes it simpler for search engines to categorise and rank your pages.
Add keywords in the right places. They?re less important than they used to be, but you should still include them in urls, page titles, meta descriptions, header tags and image alt tags.
Avoid keyword stuffing. You?re much more likely to be penalised than credited if you use a keyword phrase repeatedly on a page.
Backlinks affect rankings more than anything else. The number and quality of links pointing to your site will largely determine in what position your site ranks.
Don?t set backlink targets. Link building should be a steady, consistent, on-going process, that doesn?t stop when you reach a certain number.
Get backlinks from relevant sources. Search engines want to display relevant results for each keyword, and links from relevant pages/sites, are a strong signal to them that your site is relevant.
Be prepared to work for backlinks. Generally, the more easily you can acquire a link, the less value it will likely have.
Don?t pay people to link to your website. Not only is it risky, but it?s unnecessary too, as if you have good content and build good relationships then people will link to you for free.
Diversify your backlink profile. Get different types of links from a wide range of IP addresses.
Build backlinks to every page of your website that you want to rank. Get people to link to the inner-pages of your site ? the ones you want to rank for specific keywords ? as well as to the homepage.
Existing relationships are an instant source of backlinks. Most of your suppliers, partners and customers will link to your site if you ask them to do so.
Get the good backlinks that your competition already has. If someone has already linked to one your competitors then there?s a reasonable chance that they?ll link to you also if you give them a good reason to.
Get some backlinks with your target keywords as the link text. This type of link is important, but should make up less than 25% of your backlink profile.
A good percentage of your backlinks should be branded. A backlink profile without lots of branded links (like ?Company Name? and ?www.companyname.co.uk') signals to search engines that you?ve been using manipulative link building tactics.
Sign up for Ahrefs, Majestic SEO or Open Site Explorer. Doing so gives you access to extensive backlink data for your site and also your competitors? sites.
Every page of your website should be linked to from at least one other page. Search engines don?t include pages in their results that aren?t linked to either internally (from another page of the same site) or externally (from another site).
Have direct links from your homepage to your most important pages. Doing so passes authority from the homepage to your important pages and improves the rankings of those pages.
Add in-content links to other relevant pages on your website. Whilst not as valuable as external links, internal links do still pass authority and signal to search engines what pages to rank for which keywords.
Link out to relevant websites and blogs. People generally notice if you link to them, and if you link to them, there?s a reasonable chance that they?ll link back to you if you have good site.
Interact with bloggers in your industry. The better people with relevant blogs know you (through social sites, forums, email, etc.) the more likely they?ll be to link to your site and to share your content.
Contact businesses with relevant websites. A good relationship, in which you help promote each others? sites, makes SEO simpler and cheaper for you and for them.
Write press releases to share news and opinions. This is a good way to get content on, and links from, sites outside of your industry and circle of connections.
Phone people to develop online relationships. Emails can easily be ignored or forgotten, but phone calls not so much.
Use your website to build trust and relationships. The more relationships you have, and the more people trust you, the more people will talk about you, link to you, and, ultimately, buy from you.
Add your address and phone number to every page of your website. This builds trust and improves rankings if you?re targeting keyword phrases that contain your town/city name.
Get listed in industry and local directories. Most directories are worthless, however, there should be at least 10 that are relevant to your area or industry.
Ask customers to leave reviews on Google+ and local directories. Positive reviews improve your rankings in Google?s local listings and can be accessed directly from the search results.
Add social sharing buttons to your website. The easier you make it for people to share your content, the more likely they will be to do so.
Social media isn?t a replacement for SEO. Your social strategy should be part of, or should run alongside, your SEO strategy.
Search engines ranks webpages, not websites. Whether or not a page ranks for a particular keyword depends largely on the quality of that individual page, and not the quality of your site as a whole.
Know where you?re ranking. Within Google Webmaster Tools, go to ?Traffic? and then ?Search Queries? to check where your site is ranking for keywords.
Aim to be in the top 3, not just the top 10. If your site isn?t ranked in the top 3 positions for a keyword then you?ll only get a small percentage (less than 10%) of the traffic from searches for that keyword.
Rankings can be misleading. The number of 1st page rankings you have is irrelevant if those rankings don?t convert to visitor numbers and, ultimately, sales.
Don?t worry about PageRank. Sites with a low PR can, and often do, outrank sites with a high PR.
Choose between using www or not using www. Ensure that your site is set to load at either www.domainname.co.uk or domainname.co.uk ? not both.
Adopt a flat website architecture. Any page of your site should be accessible within 3 clicks from your homepage.
Use a simple, clear URL structure. People should be able to guess the topic of a page by looking only at its URL.
Use header tags. Include variations of your target keyword phrases in a page?s H1 and H2 tags.
Optimise your images. Include a page?s target keyword phrase, or variations of it, in the file names and img alt tags of the images on that page.
Optimise your website for mobile users. Your site needs to be clear and simple to use for people accessing it using smartphones and tablets.
Maximise your website?s loading speed. Use Google?s site speed tool and implement the recommendations that they give you.
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Quote:
or low quality on-site content can easily result in your site being penalised by search engines.
Only with minimal content sites, that are putting 10 pages up to game the engines.
Quote:
People are much more likely to link to you if you provide them with content to use on their site.
Common method claimed by the desperate I'm afraid. Its a wonder many bother with it, as you're better off creating content for your own site.
Quote:
Generally, the more easily you can acquire a link, the less value it will likely have
Applies to those who can't be bothered to check out sites in-depth. But usually, translates into the link chaser/seeker doesn't own a site worthy to warrant any link trades.
Quote:
Don?t pay people to link to your website. Not only is it risky
Every site is a lead-generation model that either takes commissions or sells direct advertising. So it can't be that risky if the world is doing exactly that.
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there?s a reasonable chance that they?ll link to you
I dont think you can count on that these days, with many scrapping their link pages. Its only the resources that get away with link exchanges now, and even now I'd suggest its a v-limited activity, mainly as so many opt for direct advertising.
Quote:
Most directories are worthless, however, there should be at least 10 that are relevant to your area or industry.
How do you know their stats and traffic again?
The total amount of portals sites on the web runs in the thousands, BUT, they all want money ???? Forget pipe dreams about free links on those boys - I'd imagine they'd like to see any beggers and spammers eat dirt, and are happy to aid in that process by increasing their fees. Still, I guess it keeps the forums busy with all the talk.
Quote:
Don?t worry about PageRank. Sites with a low PR can, and often do, outrank sites with a high PR.
Very true!
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ALGIERS/IN AMENAS, Algeria (Reuters) - More than 20 foreigners were still either being held hostage or missing inside a gas plant on Friday after Algerian forces stormed the desert complex to free hundreds of captives taken by Islamist militants.
More than a day after the Algerian army launched an assault to seize the remote desert compound, much was still unclear about the number and fate of the victims, leaving countries with citizens in harm's way struggling to find hard information.
Reports on the number of hostages killed ranged from 12 to 30, with anywhere from dozens to scores of foreigners still unaccounted for.
Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, eight of whose countrymen were missing, said fighters still controlled the gas treatment plant itself, while Algerian forces now held the nearby residential compound that housed hundreds of workers.
Leaders of Britain, Japan and other countries expressed frustration that the assault had been ordered without consultation. Many countries were also withholding information about their citizens to avoid helping the captors.
Night fell quietly on the village of In Amenas, the nearest settlement, some 50 km (30 miles) from the vast and remote desert plant. A military helicopter could be seen in the sky.
An Algerian security source said 30 hostages, including at least seven Westerners, had been killed during Thursday's assault, along with at least 18 of their captors. Eight of the dead hostages were Algerian, with the nationalities of the rest of the dead still unclear, he said.
Algeria's state news agency APS put the total number of dead hostages at 12, including both foreigners and locals.
Norway's Stoltenberg said some of those killed in vehicles blasted by the army could not be identified. "We must be prepared for bad news this weekend but we still have hope."
Northern Irish engineer Stephen McFaul, who survived, said he saw four trucks full of hostages blown up by Algerian troops.
The attack has plunged international capitals into crisis mode and is a serious escalation of unrest in northwestern Africa, where French forces have been in Mali since last week fighting an Islamist takeover of Timbuktu and other towns.
"We are still dealing with a fluid and dangerous situation where a part of the terrorist threat has been eliminated in one part of the site, but there still remains a threat in another part," British Prime Minister David Cameron told his parliament.
A local Algerian source said 100 of 132 foreign hostages had been freed from the facility. However, other estimates of the number of unaccounted-for foreigners were higher. Earlier the same source said 60 were still missing. Some may be held hostage; others may still be hiding in the sprawling compound.
Two Japanese, two Britons and a French national were among the seven foreigners confirmed dead in the army's storming, the Algerian security source told Reuters. One British citizen was killed when the gunmen seized the hostages on Wednesday.
Those still unaccounted for on Friday included 10 from Japan and eight Norwegians, according to their employers, and a number of Britons which Cameron put at "significantly" less than 30
France said it had no information on two Frenchmen who may have been at the site and Washington has said a number of Americans were among the hostages, without giving details. The local source said a U.S. aircraft landed nearby on Friday.
The attackers had initially claimed to be holding 41 Western hostages. Some Westerners were able to evade capture by hiding.
They lived among hundreds of Algerian employees on the compound. The state news agency said the army had rescued 650 hostages in total, 573 of whom were Algerians.
"(The army) is still trying to achieve a ?peaceful outcome' before neutralizing the terrorist group that is holed up in the (facility) and freeing a group of hostages that is still being held," it said, quoting a security source.
MULTINATIONAL INSURGENCY
Algerian commanders said they moved in on Thursday about 30 hours after the siege began, because the gunmen had demanded to be allowed to take their captives abroad.
A French hostage employed by a French catering company said he had hidden in his room for 40 hours under the bed, relying on Algerian employees to smuggle him food with a password.
"I put boards up pretty much all round," Alexandre Berceaux told Europe 1 radio. "I didn't know how long I was going to stay there ... I was afraid. I could see myself already ending up in a pine box."
The captors said their attack was a response to a French military offensive in neighboring Mali. However, some U.S. and European officials say the elaborate raid probably required too much planning to have been organized from scratch in the single week since France first launched its strikes.
Paris says the incident proves that its decision to fight Islamists in neighboring Mali was necessary.
Security in the half-dozen countries around the Sahara desert has long been a pre-occupation of the West. Smugglers and militants have earned millions in ransom from kidnappings.
The most powerful Islamist groups in the Sahara were severely weakened by Algeria's secularist military in a civil war in the 1990s. But in the past two years the regional wing of Al Qaeda gained fighters and arms as a result of the civil war in Libya, when arsenals were looted from Muammar Gaddafi's army.
Al Qaeda-linked fighters, many with roots in Algeria and Libya, took control of northern Mali last year, prompting the French intervention in that poor African former colony.
The Algerian security source said only two of 11 militants whose bodies were found on Thursday were Algerian, including the squad's leader. The others comprised three Egyptians, two Tunisians, two Libyans, a Malian and a Frenchman, he said.
The plant was heavily fortified, with security, controlled access and an army camp with hundreds of armed personnel between the accommodation and processing plant, Andy Coward Honeywell, who worked there in 2009, told the BBC.
The apparent ease with which the fighters swooped in from the dunes to take control of an important energy facility, which produces some 10 percent of the natural gas on which Algeria depends for its export income, has raised questions over the value of outwardly tough security measures.
Algerian officials said the attackers may have had inside help from among the hundreds of Algerians employed at the site. The attackers benefitted from bases and staging grounds across the nearby border in Libya's desert, Algerian officials said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said those responsible would be hunted down: "Terrorists should be on notice that they will find no sanctuary, no refuge, not in Algeria, not in North Africa, not anywhere.... Those who would wantonly attack our country and our people will have no place to hide."
WARNING OF MORE ATTACKS
The kidnappers threatened more attacks and warned Algerians to stay away from foreign companies' installations, according to Mauritania's news agency ANI, which maintained contact with the group during the siege.
Hundreds of workers from international oil companies were evacuated from Algeria on Thursday and many more will follow, said BP, which jointly ran the gas plant with Norway's Statoil and the Algerian state oil firm.
The overall commander of the kidnappers, Algerian officials said, was Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a one-eyed veteran of Afghanistan in the 1980s and Algeria's bloody civil war of the 1990s. He appears not to have been present.
Algerian security specialist Anis Rahmani, author of several books on terrorism and editor of Ennahar daily, told Reuters about 70 militants were involved from two groups, Belmokhtar's "Those who sign in blood", who traveled from Libya, and the lesser known "Movement of the Islamic Youth in the South".
Britain's Cameron, who warned people to prepare for bad news and who canceled a major policy speech on Friday to deal with the situation, said he would have liked Algeria to have consulted before the raid. Japan made similar complaints.
U.S. officials had no clear information on the fate of Americans. Washington, like its European allies, has endorsed France's military intervention in Mali.
(Additional reporting by Ali Abdelatti in Cairo, Eamonn Mallie in Belfast, Gwladys Fouche in Oslo, Mohammed Abbas in London and Padraic Halpin and Conor Humprhies in Dublin; Writing by Philippa Fletcher and Peter Graff; Editing by Andrew Roche)
Hi all. I had a question since it is tax season. My property was discharged through ch 7 bk back in 2009. It has not foreclosed yet. The taxes were escrowd (sp) in the mortgage that was included in the bk. Am I correct to assume that I am not liable for the property taxes? Being that the property has not had a foreclosure sale date, my name is still attached to it. But a foreclosure will change that. I haven't received any thing from the county about being late or anything so I again assume that Chase pays them?
Hello Syrix,
Yes, this is correct if you have not been making payments on the mortgage nor the property taxes the lender will step in to make sure they are paid.
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Despite recent user uproar over the loss of Instagram images displaying on Twitter (photos posted via Instagram now open in?gasp!?a separate window), Twitter remains one of the most active and attractive social networks. The mobile experience remains key to its success, which relies on short, punchy, and often spur-of-the-moment chatter. The official Twitter Android app (free) balances simplicity with essential features, such as the ability to manage more than one account and built-in photo editing tools, well enough to keep it relevant among contenders. It also doesn't hurt that Twitter purchased its main competitor TweetDeck thus preventing that app from outpacing the namesake Twitter app.
Stability and reliability also count for something, and, while Twitter delivers well enough on both counts, it's still far from perfect on either?that's a big reason we've scored Twitter a four out of five stars. The site clogs up and goes down from time to time. Drafted tweets sometimes hang in the ether until you delete them and start afresh. But all in all, the app loads and refreshes quickly and smoothly and keeps you connected to your Twitter friends.
Professional social media-ites, however, should keep their Android loaded with a social aggregator or social media manager app, such as TweetDeck (which is also owned by Twitter, but sees many fewer updates than the dedicated Twitter app) or Seesmic. Both are one-stop-shops for keeping pace with not just multiple Twitter accounts, but all your faces across various social networks.
Design and Features A clean user experience and smart design put the Twitter Android app in the big leagues. In the early days of Twitter, its own apps weren't as competitive and feature-rich as those third parties built for the social network. After three major iterations for the Android version (this review looks at version 3.6) the official Twitter-branded app is the way to go for many users. Best of all, if you don't have a Twitter account and aren't interested in joining, you can still use the app to search and read the site.
More likely than not, though, if you're downloading the app, you do have a Twitter user name and password, and perhaps more than one. Sign in with one of them to start, and you can add more accounts thereafter. After you've set up all your accounts, you can toggle between them quickly and easily. It's a highly efficient system, and one of the best features of the app.
Design and Photo Effects Rather than bombard your eyes with a cacophony of color, the Twitter app sticks to a more sophisticated color scheme of black and white, reserving muted shades of digital bluebird blue for the top spanner and accents only . It looks practical without being too serious, a simple design that takes into consideration the growing number of business users and content on the site. The app's look is sharp enough to still be appealing to people who use Twitter for personal or casual reasons, too.
A nice touch on the interactive side: Double-tapping the home icon at the lower left forces the window to scroll back to the top automatically, which means less finger flicking for users. The same function of auto-scrolling back to the top works on the @-reply page, too.
The newest feature, photo filters, mimics the basic functionality of photo-sharing site Instagram to a large extent, and it's only available on Twitter's mobile apps, not the website. Snap a photo using your Android phone or upload one from your existing images, and offers dramatic, digital filter effects, cropping and resizing tools, and an auto-enhance button that gently increases the sharpness and colors.
Twitter has eight photo effects in all: vignette, black and white, warm, cool, vintage, cinematic, happy, and gritty. A ninth option in the interface is "No Filter," which I'm going to say doesn't count. You can see all the photo filters applied to the same image in a grid, helping you decide which one is best among your choices, which is quite different from the Instagram experience in which you swipe through previews but can't see side-by-side comparisons. Twitter also does offer the ability to page through the images one by one in a slideshow, if you prefer (I don't).
Drafts Each account has its own options panel, where you can access your profile, account settings, user lists that you follow, favorite tweets, and drafts of tweets that haven't been sent yet. Drafts would be one of my favorite features of the Twitter app, except that it's slightly confusing when you look at the options that are available, and it doesn't offer the ability to schedule when a draft will post.
It's like you should be able to enter the draft area and write a message to save as a draft, but once you compose your message, the options are "send" or "cancel." There's no "save as a draft" immediately apparent; there is an option to "save as draft" if you select cancel, but I hate that it's not where I expect it to be. If you select send, the message goes live immediately. Tweets also save as drafts when the site goes down or you have connectivity problems. But in my experience, these drafts can sometimes hang in limbo for eternity, never posting no matter how long I wait after regaining service. All that's left to do is copy the text, delete the original message, and paste the content into a new tweet.
The Twitter-Branded App The official Twitter app for Android is a well-established and reliable app for Twitter. It loads and refreshes quickly, seldom crashes, and covers the essential things a non-professional tweeter would want to do on Twitter from an Android device, like post photos and receive notifications of new @ messages. It's not flooded with features, as some of the aggregator apps are, but balances goodies with functionality well for a mobile app.
The Twitter app for Android is ideal for average or casual Twitter users, but for handling accounts across multiple social media sites?such as Facebook, Foursquare, LinkedIn, and the rest?aggregator tools like Hootsuite and Seesmic are still more efficient. Professional tweeters should stick with those apps.
More Android App Reviews: ??? Twitter (for Android) ??? RPG Knight of the Earthends (for Android) ??? Google+ Mobile App (for iPhone) ??? Snapseed (for Android) ??? Asphalt 7: Heat (for Android) ?? more
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) ? Palestinian officials largely view Benjamin Netanyahu's expected re-election with despair, fearing the Israeli hard-liner's ambitious plans for settlement construction over the next four years could prove lethal to their dreams of a state.
Some in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' circle hold out hope that President Barack Obama will re-engage in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and, freed from domestic electoral considerations in his second term, get tougher with Netanyahu on settlements. One aide suggested Europe is ready to jump in with its own peace plan if Washington is not.
But short of trying to rally international opinion, it seems Abbas can do little if Netanyahu wins Tuesday.
Israeli polls indicate that a majority of seats in Israel's 120-member parliament will go to right-wing, pro-settler or Jewish ultra-Orthodox religious parties, with Netanyahu's Likud the largest among them. Netanyahu could comfortably form a coalition government with these parties, seen as his natural ideological allies.
Even if he adds a centrist party to the mix, he's unlikely to shift course from the pro-settler policies of his current government.
Under Netanyahu, construction reportedly began on nearly 6,900 settlement homes in the West Bank, captured by Israel in the 1967 war, along with Gaza and east Jerusalem. The Palestinians want to set up a state in the three territories.
That's a bit less than what was started by Netanyahu's predecessor, but many of the new homes are deeper in the West Bank, the Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now said this week. Thousands more apartments are in various stages of planning, Peace Now said, predicting an "explosion" of settlement construction in coming years.
Since 1967, Israel has moved more than half a million of its citizens to the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
The conflict with the Palestinians and the fate of the occupied lands, hotly debated in Israel for decades, were largely missing from Israeli political discourse this campaign season. The centrist Labor Party, which led peace talks with the Palestinians in the past, has shifted almost exclusively to domestic concerns, such as growing income gaps.
A research department in the Palestine Liberation Organization, reviewing Israeli party platforms, concluded that most parties proposed to manage the conflict with the Palestinians, not end it.
"This appears to scorch all hopes for the internationally endorsed two-state solution," the department wrote in an internal memo distributed to Palestinian officials and foreign diplomats.
Abbas aide Mohammed Ishtayeh said he and other senior officials have been watching the Israeli campaign closely.
"The first strong impression is that peace is not on the agenda of the Israeli parties, and it's clear that Netanyahu is winning," he said.
A Netanyahu victory "will be hard for us because it means more and more building in the settlements." he added.
Palestinians believe hopes for their state are slipping further away with each new settlement home, and that partition of the land between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River may soon no longer be possible.
Abbas has warned in a series of meetings with visiting Israeli politicians and mayors in recent months that Netanyahu's policies will force Israelis and Palestinians to live in a single state, said an Abbas aide who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about closed-door discussions.
"President Abbas warned Israeli party leaders that in the short run, this one state imposed by Netanyahu will be an apartheid state, but in the long run, our grandchildren will ask for equality," the aide said.
Settlements are at the core of the paralysis in peace efforts talks since late 2008. Netanyahu refuses to freeze construction, rebuffing Abbas who says there is no point in negotiating while settlements steadily gobble up more of the occupied lands.
The standoff is likely to continue, though the Palestinians believe their diplomatic leverage has improved.
In November, the U.N. General Assembly recognized a state of Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem. The vote, while largely symbolic, affirmed the 1967 frontier which the Palestinians want to be the base line for future border talks. Netanyahu, while willing to negotiate, wont' recognize the 1967 lines as a point of reference and wants to keep all of Jerusalem and parts of the West Bank.
Some Palestinian officials hope Obama will now be tougher with Netanyahu. Palestinians were disappointed in Obama's performance in his first term, with the president seen as having backed down in a showdown with Netanyahu over settlements.
Earlier this week, there were signs of a more assertive president.
An American columnist with close ties to the White House described Obama's disdain for Netanyahu, warning that Israel's relations with the U.S. could suffer if the Israeli government doesn't change its policies. The columnist, Jeffrey Goldberg, quoted the president as saying that "Israel doesn't know what its own best interests are."
Nabil Shaath, another Abbas aide, said the Obama administration needs to become more assertive.
The Americans "keep talking about negotiations and the need to restart the negotiations," said Shaath. "But what is needed is for the U.S. to pressure Israel to stop settlement activities and to go to real negotiations, to reach an agreement within six months."
Europe might also get more involved, he said. France, Britain and Germany are working on a peace initiative and are trying to get the U.S. on board, he said, adding that "there is nothing written on paper."
Palestinian officials have said they might also try to challenge a Netanyahu-led Israel in other ways, including by seeking war crimes charges at the International Criminal Court over settlement building. However, such a move would likely anger the U.S. and Abbas has not taken any concrete steps in that direction.
While those around Abbas privately agonize over four more years of Netanyahu, many ordinary Palestinians seem indifferent to the outcome of the vote.
Wajdi Sbeih, an electrical engineer from the West Bank town of Ramallah, said he'll watch the results Tuesday night, but won't care much. "The Labor Party came, the Likud came, but when it came to the Palestinians, they all had the same politics," he said.
___
Laub reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Dalia Nammari in Ramallah contributed.
Let's say you eat lunch at noon--how long do you wait to work out? Experts say it's best to exercise about three hours after eating in order to avoid cramping. But the American College of Sports Medicine released research saying that exercising a bit sooner after eating may be good for you, too.
In the study, people who had in low-intensity workout--walking, light resistance exercise--about two hours after eating a high-fat meal had fewer triglycerides in their blood. (Triglycerides are a type of fat found in the blood; when they're at a high level, it contributes to high cholesterol.)
A nice possible benefit, right? And the key is probably that "low-intensity" bit when working out after eating--jumping around too much in high-intensity exercises could lead to stomach cramping and possibly even stuff like diarrhea. Which obviously no one wants.
What's your favorite time to work out after eating? How long do you wait?
ONE Direction star Niall Horan has complained that his Twitter account was hacked - after an unusual message appeared about him having a spotty bottom.
The singer, 19, had been telling fans about his trip to Ghana for Comic Relief shortly before the offending tweet occurred.
He told his nine million followers: "I've seen the slums right in front of me! This is no joke! They really need your help! Poverty is real.
"Massive thanks to @rednoseday for taking us to Ghana! It was incredible! real eye opener! We take so much for granted over here!"
But hours later, he appeared to ask fans a more personal question, writing: "Have a massive spot on my arse. Wondering should I squeeze it. What do ye think?"
The Irish singer later said: "OK I don't know what happened with that last tweet."
The message was removed from his Twitter page and Horan told a fan: "I got hacked again."
Last month, Horan's Instagram page was apparently targeted by hackers who pretended to be the star.
- Sherna Noah
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Embracing debate on how cancers develop: Without the answer, effective therapies remain elusivePublic release date: 16-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Sophie Mohin smophin@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News
New Rochelle, NY, January 16, 2013Scientists invariably conduct debates in private about whether a body of scientific work or thought is worthy of presentation to the community. Behind closed doors scientists and editors tussle over when is the right time to publish their work. In a disruptive departure from this norm, Disruptive Science and Technology, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. publishers, has launched a Debate section in which ideas and counterpoints can be debated in public. The Journal seeks not to sway opinions but rather to inform them. It is fitting that the first series of debates is focused on the root cause of cancer.
Most cancer researchers would likely agree that not understanding how cancer develops is a major obstacle in the ongoing "war on cancer." However, in some scientists' minds the mechanism that underlies tumor development is not settled science. Under the Somatic Mutation Theory, cancers arise as a consequence of changes to DNA, while the Tissue Organization Field Theory states that they result from disruptions in normal cell communication needed to correctly form tissues. The initial debate explores these two major theories of cancer development in Disruptive Science and Technology, and the articles are available free on the Journal website at http://www.liebertpub.com/dst.
Stuart Baker, ScD, National Cancer Institute (Bethesda, MD), initiates the debate with the article, "Paradoxes in Carcinogenesis Should Spur New Avenues of Research: An Historical Perspective." Dr. Baker describes "paradigm instability" between the two main explanations of how cancer develops the more the dominant theory is investigated without a conclusive resolution, the more proponents think they are getting closer to understanding and the more others think the evidence is pointing to an alternative theory. Dr. Baker discusses paradoxes experimental and observational results that are not fully explained by one theory but which make sense under the other. He proposes focusing more research on explaining these paradoxes.
Vincent Wilson, PhD, Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge, LA), emphasizes that cancer develops as a result of both genetic and environmental factors in "Carcinogenesis as the Sum of Its Parts." Regardless of the specific causative event, multiple changes are required for an individual cancer cell and a tumor to develop. He suggests either combining the two main proposals for the mechanism of carcinogenesis, or subdividing cancer into subgroups developing specific hypotheses to explain the cause of each type.
Eric Lagasse, PharmD, PhD, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (PA), argues in "Battling Cancer: In the End What Matters the Most?" that while the initial event resulting in cancer is not yet clear, pointing out yet another cancer formation theory (Cancer Stem Cell Theory), cancer treatment can be improved by tailoring therapy to target the genetic characteristics of a patient's most aggressive tumor cells and to continue to monitor and modify treatment as needed to overcome drug resistance.
"The mechanisms underlying cancer formation are complex and not completely understood, even after some victories in the 'war on cancer,'" says Editor-in-Chief Alan J. Russell, PhD, Highmark Distinguished Career Professor, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA. "Drs. Baker, Wilson, and Lagasse present different points of view as to the most likely explanations for carcinogenesis. A deeper understanding of cancer mechanisms is important for designing therapeutics and formulating new research questions."
###
Contact: Alan J. Russell, PhD
Highmark Distinguished Career Professor
Carnegie Mellon University
914-740-2100 alanrussell@cmu.edu
For more information on each article, please contact:
Paradoxes in Carcinogenesis Should Spur New Avenues of Research: An Historical Perspective
Contact: National Cancer Institute Press Office ncipressofficers@mail.nih.gov
301-496-6641
Carcinogenesis as the Sum of Its Parts
Contact: Louisiana State University Office of Communications and University Relations urelat1@lsu.edu
225-578-8654
Battling Cancer: In the End What Matters the Most?
Contact:
University of Pittsburgh Office of Public Affairs
412-578-9193
For more information about the publisher or the journal please contact:
Sophie Mohin
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers
About the Journal
Disruptive Science and Technology, a breakthrough, highly innovative, peer-reviewed journal spearheaded by Editor-in-Chief Alan J. Russell, PhD, Highmark Distinguished Professor, Carnegie Mellon University, cultivates, harnesses, and explores how existing paradigms can be changed to improve human health, well-being, and productivity. The Journal provides a multimedia platform and forum for ideas and opportunities, promotes breakthrough science and engineering, facilitates the innovator-market relationship, and accelerates the transition from bench to society. Bold, transparent, and resistant to limitations driven by protection of the science and engineering status quo, Disruptive Science and Technology provides the first destination for those seeking to publish game-changing results that have the capacity to alter the way we live. For complete journal details, please visit the Disruptive Science and Technology website at http://www.liebertpub.com/dst.
About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Tissue Engineering, Rejuvenation Research, and Environmental Engineering Science. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's more than 70 journals, newsmagazines, and books is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website at http://www.liebertpub.com.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Embracing debate on how cancers develop: Without the answer, effective therapies remain elusivePublic release date: 16-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Sophie Mohin smophin@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News
New Rochelle, NY, January 16, 2013Scientists invariably conduct debates in private about whether a body of scientific work or thought is worthy of presentation to the community. Behind closed doors scientists and editors tussle over when is the right time to publish their work. In a disruptive departure from this norm, Disruptive Science and Technology, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. publishers, has launched a Debate section in which ideas and counterpoints can be debated in public. The Journal seeks not to sway opinions but rather to inform them. It is fitting that the first series of debates is focused on the root cause of cancer.
Most cancer researchers would likely agree that not understanding how cancer develops is a major obstacle in the ongoing "war on cancer." However, in some scientists' minds the mechanism that underlies tumor development is not settled science. Under the Somatic Mutation Theory, cancers arise as a consequence of changes to DNA, while the Tissue Organization Field Theory states that they result from disruptions in normal cell communication needed to correctly form tissues. The initial debate explores these two major theories of cancer development in Disruptive Science and Technology, and the articles are available free on the Journal website at http://www.liebertpub.com/dst.
Stuart Baker, ScD, National Cancer Institute (Bethesda, MD), initiates the debate with the article, "Paradoxes in Carcinogenesis Should Spur New Avenues of Research: An Historical Perspective." Dr. Baker describes "paradigm instability" between the two main explanations of how cancer develops the more the dominant theory is investigated without a conclusive resolution, the more proponents think they are getting closer to understanding and the more others think the evidence is pointing to an alternative theory. Dr. Baker discusses paradoxes experimental and observational results that are not fully explained by one theory but which make sense under the other. He proposes focusing more research on explaining these paradoxes.
Vincent Wilson, PhD, Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge, LA), emphasizes that cancer develops as a result of both genetic and environmental factors in "Carcinogenesis as the Sum of Its Parts." Regardless of the specific causative event, multiple changes are required for an individual cancer cell and a tumor to develop. He suggests either combining the two main proposals for the mechanism of carcinogenesis, or subdividing cancer into subgroups developing specific hypotheses to explain the cause of each type.
Eric Lagasse, PharmD, PhD, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (PA), argues in "Battling Cancer: In the End What Matters the Most?" that while the initial event resulting in cancer is not yet clear, pointing out yet another cancer formation theory (Cancer Stem Cell Theory), cancer treatment can be improved by tailoring therapy to target the genetic characteristics of a patient's most aggressive tumor cells and to continue to monitor and modify treatment as needed to overcome drug resistance.
"The mechanisms underlying cancer formation are complex and not completely understood, even after some victories in the 'war on cancer,'" says Editor-in-Chief Alan J. Russell, PhD, Highmark Distinguished Career Professor, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA. "Drs. Baker, Wilson, and Lagasse present different points of view as to the most likely explanations for carcinogenesis. A deeper understanding of cancer mechanisms is important for designing therapeutics and formulating new research questions."
###
Contact: Alan J. Russell, PhD
Highmark Distinguished Career Professor
Carnegie Mellon University
914-740-2100 alanrussell@cmu.edu
For more information on each article, please contact:
Paradoxes in Carcinogenesis Should Spur New Avenues of Research: An Historical Perspective
Contact: National Cancer Institute Press Office ncipressofficers@mail.nih.gov
301-496-6641
Carcinogenesis as the Sum of Its Parts
Contact: Louisiana State University Office of Communications and University Relations urelat1@lsu.edu
225-578-8654
Battling Cancer: In the End What Matters the Most?
Contact:
University of Pittsburgh Office of Public Affairs
412-578-9193
For more information about the publisher or the journal please contact:
Sophie Mohin
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers
About the Journal
Disruptive Science and Technology, a breakthrough, highly innovative, peer-reviewed journal spearheaded by Editor-in-Chief Alan J. Russell, PhD, Highmark Distinguished Professor, Carnegie Mellon University, cultivates, harnesses, and explores how existing paradigms can be changed to improve human health, well-being, and productivity. The Journal provides a multimedia platform and forum for ideas and opportunities, promotes breakthrough science and engineering, facilitates the innovator-market relationship, and accelerates the transition from bench to society. Bold, transparent, and resistant to limitations driven by protection of the science and engineering status quo, Disruptive Science and Technology provides the first destination for those seeking to publish game-changing results that have the capacity to alter the way we live. For complete journal details, please visit the Disruptive Science and Technology website at http://www.liebertpub.com/dst.
About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Tissue Engineering, Rejuvenation Research, and Environmental Engineering Science. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's more than 70 journals, newsmagazines, and books is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website at http://www.liebertpub.com.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
So if you have been reading TDL for any amount of time, you know that I am on a constant mission to get in better shape and lose the belly fat.
Forget pipe dreams about free links on those boys - I'd imagine they'd like to see any beggers and spammers eat dirt, and are happy to aid in that process by increasing their fees. Still, I guess it keeps the forums busy with all the talk.
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Public release date: 16-Jan-2013
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