You Can Broadcast Your Google+ Hangouts to Anyone Now [Video]

Testing, testing. Is this thing on? Google is launching a feature that lets anyone broadcast Google+ Hangouts live over the Internet. Finally, a social network with some voyeurism! More »

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France worries that unsavory presidential campaign has divided country

Nicolas Sarkozy's decision to play to the far right for votes in the presidential election has changed the French political landscape in a way many consider damaging.

Creating a small sensation on the eve of French presidential elections, Francois Bayrou ? a candidate himself until a few weeks ago ? announced he would vote for Socialist Francois Hollande in elections tomorrow.?The "centrist" said that although he?disagrees with Mr. Hollande?s economic platform, the national unity that the frontrunner stresses is more important.?

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Bayrou's move underscores what has become a central issue in French elections: the divisive atmosphere of the campaign and the rise of speech that often stigmatizes minorities.? And his support is not insignificant, as he scored 9 percent of votes in the first round.

The rise of the far right has forced President Nicolas Sarkozy to fish ardently in waters previously considered forbidden in polite society for a chance at re-election. He needs the voters of Marine Le Pen, the anti-Islam anti-Europe, nationalist, far-right candidate who defied expectations in the first round, scoring 18 percent of the vote.

At his May 1 rally in Paris, Sarkozy spoke as the champion of ?real labor? ? veiled words of approbation for those on welfare, or without jobs. His team earlier leaked a false rumor that challenger Francois Hollande was the favorite of ?700 mosques? in France. He has described someone in public as ?someone who looks like a Muslim? and has legitimized the far-right by encouraging their vote.

Much has been made in this election campaign about the personal dislike French feel for Sarkozy's flamboyant style. But the longer term issue for France, now being raised by figures on both the left and the traditional right, is his ongoing appeal to base instincts and voters' fears.

Articulating his reason for backing Hollande, which has caused outrage among some in his camp,?Bayrou said today, "The line that Nicholas Sarkozy chose is violent. It is in contradiction to our values and Gaullist values as well as those of the republicans and the social right.?

Unsurprisingly, the left has been critical as well, coining the term ?Sarkozyism? to describe antagonizing techniques that create divisions among different sections of society. It is a ?technique which consists of pitting the French against one another,? as Paul Quil?s, a former Socialist minister, has said.

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Does An Old Map Reveal Fate of The Lost Colony of Roanoke? [Maps]

Every American school kid learns the story of the Lost Colony of Roanoke. But could its fate have been hiding in plain sight all along, behind some patches on a map? It's a major clue that could eventually solve a 400 year old mystery. More »

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Rihanna Brings Eye-Popping Sets To 'Saturday Night Live'

Despite early talk, singer did not appear in any of episode's skits.
By James Dinh

Rihanna performs on "Saturday Night Live"
Photo: NBC

Marking her third appearance on "Saturday Night Live," Rihanna proved that the third time's a charm when the pop titan took over the Studio 8H stage on Saturday for a pair of eye-popping performance sets during the Eli Manning-hosted episode.

Standing before an oversized crystallized spider web in the middle of the black-lit stage, Rihanna began her first number with the buzzing sounds of "Birthday Cake." It was a surprising song selection that momentarily suggested the possibility of an onstage reunion with birthday boy Chris Brown, but "Cake" ended quickly, instead leading into a medley of her tune "Talk That Talk."

" 'SNL,' put your hands together like this," she told the crowd.

With her backup dancers on hand, Rih kept the performance straightforward, offering viewers some simple shakes, pelvis thrusts and plenty of swag. One complaint was with the echo effect that was added to her microphone, which made the singer's vocal sound shaky at times.

However, any issues with the opening number were soon forgotten when the pop star took to the stage for her follow-up performance of her brand-new single, "Where Have You Been." Fronting an Arabian-themed backdrop and human props, Rihanna threw on a fierce game face and danced her way through the track with steady energy. It was a welcome change to see the Barbadian singer show off some footwork.

Unfortunately, the episode ended without any mention of "Shy Ronnie," her first digital short, or any Rihanna-featured skits at all, even though "SNL" head honcho Lorne Michaels had told reporters on Wednesday that he was trying to work out the details on incorporating Rihanna into the sketch lineup.

Shy Ronnie may have not made an appearance, but Saturday's gig was the perfect vehicle to promote her just-released single as well as her big-screen acting debut in the summer flick "Battleship," which hits theaters May 18.

What did you think of Rih's "SNL" performances? Let us know in the comments below.

Related Artists

• Rihanna

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Wisconsin Democratic debate focuses on attacking governor

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Attempt These Wonderful Self-help Tips To Boost Your Assurance ...

Creating the selection to focus on self improvement can be an energizing experience, and it can offer you a sensation of becoming in control of your way of life. To achieve your desired goals, you must bring on diverse resources for motivation and enthusiasm. This article beneath has numerous great concepts you may use without delay.

Typically what gives your satisfied feeling straight down is pressure. Pressure can take the two a physical along with an mental toll on your system. If we would like to think evidently and strive for our objectives with neat, calm function, we have to eliminate the tension inside our minds. Timetable time day-to-day to enjoy all by yourself in rest and clarity. Having an a chance to recharge can give you peacefulness and improve your personal-appearance.

Improving your health is really a part of personal development. You will see the best ways to keep determined and recognize the necessity of a good diet and physical activity to your imagination. If you make your state of health a top-notch worry and understanding that a wholesome life-style increases your other self improvement efforts, there is a good possibility of sticking with your overall health-improving techniques.

It?s crucial that you can know you could get to your personal development targets. You must realize that doing all of your finest is what you are worthy of. When all is said and accomplished, you are aware that that which was accomplished was all that you might do, so you won?t have regrets.

As part of your self improvement, you ought to continually make an effort to have really like become the motivator powering your faith. Trust are unable to are present with out really like. Don?t overlook the faith you may have. Do good deeds for those who want it, to make your religious beliefs basically indicate one thing by loving oneself along with your peers.

Are you presently a huge enthusiast? The dangerous ingredients in tobacco might cause COPD, malignancy plus a massive list of other ailments. Your whole body is exactly what your home is in just about every day and so concern for the wellness needs to be a high priority. Sometimes, getting rid of improper habits is what is required to make your life far better. Have a look at your general existence along with the routines you engage in to understand if you have anything you may get rid of.

Write down your goals to help you increase on the inside. Take note of anything you aspire to become or to alter about yourself. Next, think about diverse ideas and resources that could seriously help to accomplish this goal. Then, place yourself in conditions where that could happen. Making a strategy can make it more likely that you succeed.

Don?t force your body too hard while you are attempting to an ambition. Get your greatest picture, but know if you have attained your limit. Don?t ignore the body as soon as your are aiming in order to meet your primary goal. Hurting the body will be kitchen counter to what you are actually seeking to achieve in boosting oneself.

Sit back and discover what is considered the shield between both you and your objectives. This can be difficult to do for several folks. In order to alter issues you will be possessing, you have to identify whatever they are. If you can to conquer some difficulties, you can find a much better image of the items your potential holds.

You can?t make everyone pleased, but you possibly can make yourself delighted. Do not develop into a personal-focused person, but keep in mind that no one else can help you become a more content person than oneself. To become more joyful man or woman and succeed in individual progress, you have to be accurate to your traditional personal plus your own sensation of appropriate and improper.

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Robot-assisted bypass reduces recovery, patient makes NASCAR race

ScienceDaily (May 4, 2012) ? Jay Savage is an avid NASCAR fan. A few months ago the 51-year-old bought a new motorhome and infield passes to the May race at Talladega Superspeedway. He hoped to see his favorite driver Kevin Harvick post his first victory of the season and repeat his 2010 Aaron's 499 win. But, the need for a heart bypass operation a week before the big race nearly derailed Savage's plans.

Then University of Alabama at Birmingham cardiac surgeon Trey Brunsting, M.D., offered Savage a minimally invasive surgery that would enable him to load his RV and head to his spot at the south tunnel -- in turn No. 2 between row one and 36 -- after removing the blockage in his heart.

"A traditional cardiac bypass procedure is done with an incision in the center of the chest and you separate the two halves of the breastbone, but it takes a long time for people to recover," Brunsting says. UAB Hospital is the only Birmingham-area hospital providing robotic-assisted heart bypass surgery. "A patient is in the hospital five to seven says and then bone has to knit back together. It takes three or four months for people to return to full activity."

That surgery certainly would have kept Savage from his NASCAR dream. But Brunsting told Savage he could repair his blocked artery and discharge him from the hospital in a few days using robot-assisted surgery.

"For about the past three and a half months I had been having pain where the shoulder strap on a seat belt goes," Savage says. "That's what kept bothering me, because it was up so high. I had an arteriogram, and they found a blockage. There wasn't any other option besides cracking my chest, and I was willing to do anything to make the race."

The blockage was at the beginning of the major artery on the front his heart where the short left main trunk splits into two, Brunsting says. "It's a difficult place to stent, and a bypass operation was a better long-term choice for him."

Robotic, or minimally invasive bypass operations, use a special scope system and three small port sites on the side of the chest to begin the operation and to ensure surgeons can prepare the mammary or thoracic artery on that side of the chest ready to use as a bypass graft. Then the surgeon may add two port sites and operate wholly with scopes or remove the scope and create a slightly larger incision between the ribs and do the bypass by hand -- but with direct vision.

Whether doctors use the scope system or direct vision with the 3-inch incision, recovery time is dramatically shortened. With the full scope, patients are in the hospital two to three days and usually able to return to full activity in two to three weeks, Brunsting says. With the small incision, patients are in the hospital three to five days and return to full activity in four to six weeks.

Savage says he is grateful for a short recovery and not to be facing another heart attack.

"I'm glad they found this and fixed it the way they did, instead of something happening while I was out there," Savage says. "It could have been bad. I didn't think it was as bad as it was. I mean open heart surgery, I would have never dreamed that in my life. A stent, that's nothing. That's like putting a Band-Aid on it. But, cracking your chest, that's something else. Now all I have is a little bitty scar and that's not bad."

As for Savage's Talladega plans, Brunsting say while not ideal for recovery, he should be fine.

"It's probably a little bit quick but he's otherwise healthy and in good shape," Brunsting says. "He's got a motor home with air conditioning and a place to lie down if he needs to take a little bit of a break or rest, and he's got friends and family that are going with him, so I'm actually pretty comfortable with it."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Alabama at Birmingham, via Newswise. The original article was written by Jennifer Lollar.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

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Motorola MOTOACTV GPS Tracker Review

Verizon recently gave me the opportunity to try out the new MOTOACTV.? Well, what exactly is it? A music player??A GPS Tracker??A watch? Actually, it’s all of those. They also lent me the Sports armband. I am definitely a?casual?runner, and I don’t run much at all when it is cold, but this got me out [...]

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What to Watch! The Hottest Summer Movies of 2012

From Spiderman to Robert Pattinson's big-screen return in Bel Ami, check out our picks for the season's biggest films!

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Nokia Is Working on "Hybrid" Mobile Devices—Whatever the Hell That Means [Nokia]

Nokia lost its spot as the world's top phone manufacturer to Samsung last week, but according to an interview with the Financial Times, it's got a plan to get back on track: Hybrids. More »

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Krossover Makes Athletes, Coaches Smarter With Business Intelligence For Sports

Anyone who's played competitive sports knows how important stats, analysis, and post-game film are. They're an excellent way to improve both personally and on a team level, yet it usually takes a dedicated staff to push out rich, thorough analysis. Luckily, a new startup called Krossover is ready to help solve that problem. They call themselves "business intelligence for sports," offering youth, amateur, highschool and college sports teams fully indexed game footage within 12-36 hours of uploading. This includes searchable film, box scores, shot charts and drive charts, and thorough analytical reports for every player on the team.

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Dell spreads the Ivy Bridge love to new XPS 8500, Vostro 470 PCs (video)

Not willing to let the new Alienware lineup have all the fun with Intel's Ivy Bridge rollout, Dell has seen fit to trot out a pair of new desktop systems using the new 22-nanometer chips. The XPS 8500 is arguably the center of attention here and comes with your pick of the third-generation, quad-core i5 or i7 processors, along with a new choice for a 32GB or 256GB solid-state drive to cut down on those pesky loading times. The more sober-minded among us can opt for the Vostro 470 business desktop, which skips over the raw video prowess of its rebellious XPS cousin in favor of supporting up to 32GB of RAM, not to mention stacking up the extra security and support that makes IT administrators happy. Should you want to take the plunge, $750 will get you into the XPS 8500 fold, while $550 is all it takes for the Vostro 470 line. Head in past the break for a video peep at both PCs.

Update: we've included the full press release after the break.

Continue reading Dell spreads the Ivy Bridge love to new XPS 8500, Vostro 470 PCs (video)

Dell spreads the Ivy Bridge love to new XPS 8500, Vostro 470 PCs (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 06:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Seesmic: We?re ?Passing The Torch? To DoubleDutch On CRM

It looks like always-pivoting Seesmic is wrapping up of its latest shift, from the CRM business to social posting apps. Back in March, the company laid off half its staff to pursue the new direction (which is really a return to one of its old strategies), but there weren't many details about the transition. Today, Seesmic announced that it has reached an agreement with enterprise startup DoubleDutch: "As we won?t be supporting Seesmic CRM going forward, we are thrilled that DoubleDutch will be proposing its great mobile CRM solution to the users and companies we have been working with on Seesmic CRM over the past few months."

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Bing Strips Down Results Page To Make Google Look Like ?Search Overload?

While Google keeps cramming its search results pages full of tools and social content, today Bing confirmed with me the full roll out a redesigned search results page that completely clears the left sidebar, and replaces the tabbed header with a cleaner set of links. Bing Facebook integration is also more subtle now, instead of plastering names and faces beneath Liked results. This more relaxing, dare I say zen, design gives Google a more claustrophobic and exhausting feel by comparison.?Microsoft seems to have realized that if it can't match Google's algorithmic prowess, it could win with sleek design that doesn't bombard you with a thousand options.

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'Iron Man' Flies Towards 'Avengers': Sick Day Stash

"I'm here to talk to you about The Avengers initiative." And with those few ominous words, the superhero movie landscape changed forever. Make no mistake, 2008's "Iron Man" is the one that started it all. It established Marvel Studios' unexpected but insightful taste in directors with Jon Favreau. It showed their excellent eye for casting [...]

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Pets vs. Younger Siblings | Tattler Extra

Pets

Polka Dot Baron

?No! I don?t have your dress!?
?My turn on X-Box!?
?MOM! He hit me!?
?
?Let?s play basketball. But only 5 minutes, I don?t feel well.?
?
Every 3 seconds, someone is the victim of younger sibling tyranny. Every 9 seconds, some younger sibling kinda makes it up. Kinda.
?
Pets are unrelenting in their love. Cats curling up on your lap, dogs bounding after every ball you throw them, guinea pigs?.. OH MY GOD GUINEA PIGS!!
?
This argument isn?t about pets vs siblings. Its about pets and YOUNGER SIBLINGS. Older siblings, when not bullying you, are always willing to play basketball, or dress up, or just lend some advice. The point is, to own pets in this argument doesn?t mean one is lonely. Pets can provide plenty of company, but friends and older siblings are always open to company.
?
?Pets aren?t only the greatest companions. They teach us responsibility. Sure, babysitting our kid brothers and sisters teaches us responsibility too. If responsibility is sitting on a couch, watching Bob the Builder or Barbie Goldilocks. Walking a dog or cleaning out a cat litter shows us how to care. We love them, and the knowledge that we hold their lives and well-being in our hands strengthens that bond.
?
One of the worst things about pets is that they tend to pass before we do, and we feel great sadness when they go. But everything comes to an end. And the memory of our pets lives on when we share great experiences with them. All of the magic of younger siblings is gone when we go off to college. Or when they become teenagers.
?
Pets rock. You can cuddle with them whenever you want, they make you feel better when you?re blue, they make you smile. Nothing beats a pet.

?

Younger Siblings

Brass Baron

Since the beginning of mankind, we humans have treasured and respected the deep relationships we share with our siblings. An old Vietnamese proverb describes, ?Brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet.?

Sibling relationships have an astounding tenacity to remain true and strong. Sibling bonds outlast marriages, endure the death of parents, and re-emerge after quarrels that would have destroyed friendships. Younger siblings share your childhood, your responsibilities, and your features. You remember your private jokes, family secrets, and trials and griefs. Younger siblings have known you their entire lives. It seems peculiar that a fifty year old man may still call his forty-five year old sister his ?baby sister.? To the man, however, time has not passed. She has, and always will be, his little sister.

A sibling relationship easily trumps a pet relationship. A sibling may not necessarily be furry like a dog or exotic like a snake. However, siblings can still win over our hearts without needing any unique characteristics. The blood-relationship is irreplaceable. We learn life through the mistakes of our siblings, and we also learn with them the hard way
lessons on fairness and cooperation.

A pet, unfortunately, does not generally live as long and cannot provide the same enduring companionship. You cannot converse with your pet or ask him for advice. You cannot teach your pet how to sing, draw, or dance. You cannot confide in your pet about your problems or your dreams. Instead, you might face a dog that chases after squirrels, a bird that chirps too loudly, or a tank full of fish that look at you indifferently.

In actuality, your siblings take care of you as much as you take care of them. You may argue or disagree, but in the end, you know you love them.

?

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Science fair winner publishes new study on butterfly foraging behavior

ScienceDaily (Apr. 30, 2012) ? University of Florida lepidopterist Andrei Sourakov has spent his life's work studying moths and butterflies. But it was his teenage daughter, Alexandra, who led research on how color impacts butterflies' feeding patterns.

The research shows different species exhibit unique foraging behaviors, and the study may be used to build more effective, species-specific synthetic lures for understanding pollinators, insects on which humans depend for sustaining many crops.

In a study appearing online in April in the journal Psyche: A Journal of Entomology, researchers used multi-colored landing pads and baits in the Florida Museum of Natural History's McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity on the UF campus to determine that some butterflies use both sight and smell to locate food, while others rely primarily on smell.

"Butterflies are a great model for studying the environment and we can move in different directions from here in terms of application," said Florida Museum collection coordinator and study co-author Andrei Sourakov. "We've shown choosing certain scents or colored plants might depend on what species you want to attract -- if we can determine how to attract butterflies, perhaps we can also trap pest moths that lay eggs in agricultural fields."

Alexandra Sourakov began the research for a local science fair competition in 2009, spending weekends and after-school hours conducting experiments in the Florida Museum's Butterfly Rainforest exhibit.

"In eighth grade, we had to design a project, and I spend a lot of time around butterflies because my dad works with them," said Eastside High School sophomore Alexandra. "I've always been curious how they were able to locate their food, whether they fed on flowers or fruit, and so I started looking at it in the Butterfly Rainforest."

Alexandra placed red, yellow and black cardboard landing pads covered with honey, and observed flower-feeding species had a greater preference for the red color. But the exclusively fruit-feeding Blue Morpho showed no preference for a particular color. Mango, honey and green, ripe and fermented bananas were presented to fruit-feeding butterflies, and fermented bananas proved most attractive.

After winning first prize in eighth grade at the state science fair, Alexandra Sourakov was invited by study co-author and science fair judge Adrian Duehl to expand her study and conduct chemical analysis at the U.S. Department of Agriculture on UF's campus.

"Of about 600 butterflies attracted to bait, half of them were the Blue Morphos, so it was a logical species to focus on for the chemical part of the study," Andrei Sourakov said.

Gas chromatography coupled with parallel detection by mass spectrometry and electroantennography (measuring antennae output to the brain) were used to determine which chemicals that smelled like fermented bananas cause reactions in the Blue Morpho butterflies' body parts, including antennae, proboscis, legs and labial palpi, which are small projections protruding from the head. Surprisingly, all the organs reacted to the same range of chemicals except the labial palpi.

"It might have been expected that the results were species-specific because each species feeds on different food, but I was surprised by the results from the body parts because I wasn't even sure if any of them except the antennae would react to the volatile chemicals," Alexandra Sourakov said. "That was interesting because it shows a joint message may be sent to the brain from these different organs. This expands our understanding of butterflies' sense of smell."

Little is known about the function of the labial palpi and their contrasting reaction to the chemicals poses new questions about how different organs are used in finding food, said Adriana Briscoe, an associate professor in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California Irvine who studies how color vision affects foraging behavior in butterflies.

"What's nice about this study is that it's multi-disciplinary, in that it looks at both vision behavior and olfactory behavior and physiology," Briscoe said. "It's very interesting that they found the different compounds in fruit are sensed by different body parts of the butterfly and it suggests that different organs are specialized for detecting different compounds."

Andrei Sourakov initiated the study as a means to involve young people in research and Briscoe agrees that, "the more young kids or high school kids that can get involved in doing science, the better off we are as a society."

"I would love to see more of this sort of thing done," Briscoe said. "It's challenging to engage high school students with science, and I think butterflies are a wonderful way to draw them in."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Florida. The original article was written by Danielle Torrent.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Alexandra Sourakov, Adrian Duehl, Andrei Sourakov. Foraging Behavior of the Blue Morpho and Other Tropical Butterflies: The Chemical and Electrophysiological Basis of Olfactory Preferences and the Role of Color. Psyche: A Journal of Entomology, 2012; 2012: 1 DOI: 10.1155/2012/378050

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Michelle Williams's Little Matilda "Loves" Jason Segel

Is Jason Segel proving to be the perfect boyfriend to Michelle Williams? According to insiders, Segel is shining where it counts -- with Williams' beloved daughter Matilda Ledger.

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Angry Birds Space hits 50 million milestone, smashes it, crushes pigs in the process

It helps to be free on the fastest-growing mobile platform, but that shouldn't draw all the attention away from Rovio's latest announcement. It's space-based reinvention of Angry Birds has now topped 50 million downloads in under 35 days, breaking its (and presumably everyone else's) record for mobile game downloads. In Rovios's own way, it recently thanked eager gamers for their consistent downloading support by slathering ten additional levels on both the iOS and Android version last week.

Angry Birds Space hits 50 million milestone, smashes it, crushes pigs in the process originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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