Sennheiser intros ritzy IE 800 headphones and HDVD 800 amp, your wallet screams

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You thought Sennheiser had already done enough to appease audiophiles this year at CES? Think again. The company has announced yet another new set of headphones with an amp to keep it warm at night, but the high-end wares come at a high-end price. The ceramic IE 800 buds (€599 or $787) offer a broad 5 - 46,000 Hz audio range in spite of their mere 7mm drivers, while stainless steel vents on the back supposedly "improve bass and airflow." If you need some extra juice and don't mind forking over the premium €1,499 ($1,973), the HDVD 800 headphone amp's shell is rocking anodized aluminum and a glass window for peering at the bantam circuitry within -- way over the top, but also, pretty amazing. It supports 24-bit 192kHz sources and is engineered for ideal synergy with Senn's HD 800, HD 700, HD 650 and HD 600. Both should hit the shelves by summer of this year.

Sennheiser intros ritzy IE 800 headphones and HDVD 800 amp, your wallet screams originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Apr 2012 21:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is corn syrup killing the honeybees? ( video)

A trio of recent studies faults a common family of corn pesticides for disorienting honeybees, potentially leading to colony collapse disorder. The German chemical company Bayer, which manufactures the pesticides, disagrees. ?

Since 2006, something awfully strange has been happening to North America's commercial beehives. Beekeepers are finding that many of the boxed hives ranged throughout their apiaries have been inexplicably abandoned by worker bees. These ghost-hives typically have ample stores of honey and pollen, and hold gestating colony broods, sometimes even a lone queen.

Skip to next paragraph Dr Reese Halter speaks to the Daily Planet from Camerillo, Calif on the missing 50 billion honeybees.

This phenomenon is called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), and two papers published recently in the journal Science say that it is correlated with the presence of a ubiquitous class of insecticide called neonicotinoids. A newer study published in the Bulletin of Insectology suggests that this insecticide is introduced into bee colonies through, strangely enough, high-fructose corn syrup.

The insecticide was developed by Bayer AG, the German chemical and pharmaceutical giant most recognized for its original brand of aspirin. Today, the $53 billion company has released a rebuttal to the suggested link between neonicotinoids and Colony Collapse Disorder.

The population of feral honeybees in the US has been steadily decreasing for the past half-century, and is now almost nonexistent. In the same timescale, commercial honeybees experienced a shallower decline in population. However, since 2006, they have started rapidly disappearing in North America and Europe. Many scientists agree that the confluence of factors that drove population decline before 2006 is still in effect, but that something probably changed in light of the new rash of colony collapses.

Identifying the causes of CCD is a complex proposition, but the disorder's symptoms and effects are quite simple. It usually occurs when worker bees first depart their hives to forage, in winter or early spring. Then they don't return. Their hives typically have an active queen, ample food, and a developing brood ? not exactly the home a bee would abandon under normal circumstances. Many scientists have since suggested that pesticides may disorient bees or affect their memory, making them unable to navigate home.

Chensheng Lu, an environmental scientist at Harvard and the lead author on the Bulletin of Insectology paper, was curious as to how the insecticide may be introduced into the colony, and decided to investigate high-fructose corn syrup, which for the past decade has been used by beekeepers to supplement hives that have been decanted of honey. Much of the US corn crop is treated with neonicotinoids, and so trace amounts of the insecticides can often be found in the sugary syrup.

Lu and colleagues designed an experiment that would expose hives to concentrations ranging from 20 to 400 parts per billion. Within 4 months, 15 of the 16 experimental hives had been emptied by what appeared to be CCD, according to the researchers.

As more studies are published on this subject, the link between neonicontinoids and CCD may become more apparent. In this case, Bayer AG could only be held indirectly accountable, as it is the beekeepers who are substituting the inexpensive syrup for bee honey, thereby introducing the pesticide.

Earlier today Bayer released a statement that criticized the Harvard study, asserting that the sample size was too small to be statistically significant and that the "authors ignored the scientific consensus that bee health is impaired by multiple factors, including inadequate diet, pests and parasites such as the varroa mite, microbial diseases, mismanaged colonies, and loss of genetic diversity."

These are not unreasonable criticisms. Though the study authors certainly didn't "ignore" a "scientific consensus" on the multiple factors that could cause CCD. They simply investigated one of them. Nonetheless, scientists are still puzzled by the many possible causes of the disorder. They're also concerned, and for good reason.

The common honeybee is widely recognized as the most important insect pollinator. They're extremely versatile, able to collect both nectar and pollen and to transport it. They are easily managed by beekeepers, and live year-round, which means they will service a wide variety of plants. They're also fecund; one simple colony can consist of one queen, a few hundred drones and roughly 80,000 workers. There is no realistic scenario in which we could operate our mass-scale farms without them.

Bayer's concerns about the studies are not all that surprising considering the company's financial interests. But if more research confirms that its neonicotinoids are afflicting the commercial honeybee population, then they are threatening an enterprise on which Bayer crucially depends: agriculture itself.

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Splashtop brings Windows 8 Metro Testbed to Apple's iPad (video)

Splashtop brings Windows 8 Metro testbed to Apple's iPad (video)
This has gotta be uncomfortable for the iPad. Now, Windows 8 tablet developers -- or anyone, for that matter -- can test their apps and play with the Microsoft's Metro interface from within the confines of Apple's ubiquitous tablet. The functionality is made possible by Splashtop, which is known for its remote desktop apps that are currently available for Android and iOS. It seems that a good amount of effort went into this application, known as the Win8 Metro Testbed, which offers the same swipe capabilities that will be available on a native system. This includes the ability to swipe from the left to switch apps, swipe from the right to reveal the Charms menu, and pull down from the top to close an application. Splashtop's Win8 Metro Testbed is currently available for a promotional $24.99 in the iTunes App Store, whereafter it will sell for $49.99. You'll find the full PR and a quick video tour of the app's functionality after the break.

Continue reading Splashtop brings Windows 8 Metro Testbed to Apple's iPad (video)

Splashtop brings Windows 8 Metro Testbed to Apple's iPad (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Apr 2012 02:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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5 Effective Daily Routines That Can Improve Self Esteem

Having positive self-esteem is very important to a person?s overall development. Many great things can be accomplished by a person who has high regard and respect for oneself. But there will be times in a person?s life when stress and emotional upheavals can take its toll and affect a person?s level of confidence. This can be debilitating and can greatly affect a person?s overall quality of life. When this happens, measures should be taken in order to improve self esteem.

Improving a person?s self esteem is not something that can be done overnight. It will take a few trial and errors to see which methods will work to improve self esteem. It will also take a daily dose of self-affirmation techniques in order to gradually raise the level of confidence and self-esteem. Here are a few effective ways to help a person improve self esteem.

1) Meditate and infuse positive self-affirmation.

Meditation has been proven to be a very effective way to clear the mind and body of stress. When the mind is clear and stress-free, it can easily absorb other information. It?s the best time to infuse positive self-affirmation to the brain. Meditation only takes a few minutes a day inside a safe and quiet place.

2) Have a daily exercise routine. Studies have proven that exercise emits endorphins which helps make a person happy and reduce levels of stress. Exercise can help a person improve self esteem. Exercise can also help a person feel more confident about his or her body. When a person feels good inside out, it can help raise the level of self-esteem.

3) Spend time with happy positive people every day and stay away from negative individuals.

Being surrounded with happy, positive and bright friends can do wonders improve self esteem. Avoid people who always criticize and give off a negative aura. Part of improving self-esteem is to eliminate all negative thoughts and feelings as much as possible.

4) Give yourself little rewards for a job well done. Improving self esteem involves accepting one?s own weakness and celebrating the strengths. Buy yourself an ice cream after finishing a difficult assignment or get a massage after a stressful but productive day. When failing in something, reflect on the lesson learned, plan how to make it better and reward yourself anyway for staying positive about it.

5) Wake up early. According to studies, waking up between 5am to 6am conditions the mind to become proactive. It helps a person accomplish more things throughout the day. Part of the technique to improve self esteem is to always accomplish something. Accomplishments, not matter how big or small, can help increase a person?s self-worth and value. It reaffirms the person?s personal capabilities and they will start feeling good about themselves.

There are many other ways to improve self esteem. A person needs to find out which method works best and keep at it. These tips are not only intended for those who have low self-esteem but for practically anyone who needs a little boost in order to gain a more positive perspective in life.

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Khloe Kardashian Refutes Miscarriage Rumor, Loves Kanye West


Khloe Kardashian sat in with the ladies of The Talk yesterday and set the record straight regarding the latest tabloid rumor: she has never suffered a miscarriage.

"I'm only laughing because it's so ridiculous," Khloé said on the CBS gabfest. "I typically don't address a lot of the tabloids because 90 percent of what they write is false. But when you talk about someone having a miscarriage, that's so personal and so hurtful… That's such bad karma - is that how much you guys need to sell magazines?"

Even we must agree with the reality star on this one. Low blow, In Touch Weekly.

But what about the chatter that's growing louder everyday: is sister Kim Kardashian really dating Kanye West?!?

"Kanye's been a family friend of ours forever," Khloé said, beating around the publicized bush. "And I love Kanye. I think he is an amazing person. He is, truly, so sweet. I think sometimes he gets a bad rep in the media, but he's always been a great friend to Kim and to all of us."

Fortunately, Kardashian was a bit more forthcoming when asked if Britney Spears would make a good X Factor judge. Watch her respond to that question in the following video:

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Real Estate Investing for Beginners ? How To Plan Renovations For ...

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