Argentina offers to pay debts with cash, bonds

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) ? Argentina is offering a creative way out of its debt showdown in a U.S. appellate court.

Its proposed payment plan for $1.44 billion in debts left unpaid since the country's 2001 default is a mix of cash and new bonds that it says would provide the plaintiffs with a huge profit, but not a gargantuan one.

According to the math Argentina gave the appellate judges just before a midnight New York deadline, NML Capital Ltd. would eventually make an aggregate profit of a 284 percent on the bonds it bought five years ago, but not an unfair gain of 1,380 percent.

Argentina is appealing a ruling that would make it pay it all in cash up front.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/argentina-offers-pay-debts-cash-bonds-040817493--finance.html

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If 'Girls,' 'Full House' And More Had 'Game Of Thrones' Sigils

HBO has released a delightful sigil-maker before the start of the third season of Game of Thrones. This got me thinking, what would some of the most famous characters from fiction adopt as their sigils and mottos if they were in the world of Westeros? Let's have a look.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/29/game-of-thrones-sigils_n_2980146.html

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Bee deaths stir up renewed buzz

From 2012: Honeybees may be victims of widely used insecticides. NBC's Anne Thompson reports.

By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

This past winter has been exceptionally rough for honeybees ??and although it's too early to say exactly why, the usual suspects range from pesticides that appear to cause memory loss to pests that got an exceptionally early start last spring.

Friday marked the start of an annual survey that asks beekeepers to report how many bees they lost over the winter, conducted by the Bee Informed Partnership, the Apiary Inspectors of America and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The advance word is that the results will be brutal.??The New York Times, for example, quoted beekeepers as saying the losses reached levels of 40 to 50 percent?? which would be double the average reported last year.

One beekeeper in Montana was quoted as saying that his bees seemed health last spring, but in September, "they started to fall on their face, to die like crazy."

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Dennis vanEngelsdorp, an entomologist at the University of Maryland who is one of the leaders of the survey team, said he can't predict what the past winter's average loss figure will be. The beekeepers' reports are being solicited online for the next two weeks, and the figures are due for release on May 7.

"What I can say is, when we were in California this year, the strength of the colonies that were there was significantly lower than it was in previous years," vanEngelsdorp told NBC News.?

Pesticides at issue
That's consistent with a mysterious ailment known as colony collapse disorder, which has stirred scientists' concern for the past decade. The malady almost certainly due to combination of factors ??including the Varroa mite, a single-celled parasite known as Nosema, several varieties of viruses, and pesticides. Researchers point to one particular class of pesticides, known as neonicotinoids, as a prime suspect.

Neonicotinoid-based pesticides are commonly applied as a coating on corn seeds, but the chemicals can persist in the environment. Although they have low toxicity for mammals, they've been found to have a significant neurotoxic effect on insects, including bees. Several European countries have banned neonicotinoids, the European Union has been looking at a wider ban, and the Environmental Protection Agency is considering new limitations as well. Just last week, a lawsuit called on the EPA to suspend the use of two types of neonicotinoids immediately.

Two recently published studies add to the concern: This week, researchers report in Nature Communications that neonicotinoids block the part of a bee's brain that associates scents with foods. They suggest that without that functionality, the bees effectively forget that floral scents mean food is nearby, and thus die off before they can pollinate. A study published in January in the Journal of Experimental Biology found a similar link to problems with scent-related learning and memory.

Mild winter, dry summer
Although neonicotinoids are currently front and center in the debate over colony collapse disorder, they're not necessarily the primary reason for this winter's dramatic dip in bee colonies.

VanEngelsdorp noted that the winter of 2011-2012 was easy on the bees: Losses amounted to just 21.9 percent, compared with a 2006-2011 average of 33 percent. However, the mild winter was kind to the bees' pests as well. VanEngelsdorp speculated that Varroa mites may have gained an early foothold in the hives last spring. By the time beekeepers started their treatments on the usual schedule, it was too late to keep the mites from weakening the colonies. That would help explain why the past winter's losses were worse than usual.

Scott Bauer / USDA via AP

A worker bee carries a Varroa mite, visible in this close-up view.

California beekeeper Randy Oliver, who discusses industry trends on the Scientific Beekeeping blog, said the past summer's drought was also a factor: "When there's a drought, the bees are in poor shape with the food," he told NBC News. He said he and other beekeepers predicted that there'd be heavy winter losses last July, when the scale of the drought became clear.

Heavy losses are bad news, and if bee colonies are becoming progressively weaker, that's worse news. It's not just because of the honey: The Department of Agriculture says that bee pollination is responsible for more than $15 billion in increased crop value each year. A bee scarcity increases costs for the farmers who need them for pollination, and that could lead to higher food prices. But Oliver said it's important to keep a sense of perspective about the bad news.

"The situation with the bees is not dire," he said. "The bees are doing OK. There's no danger that the bees will go extinct. ... That's just not true."

More about bees:

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Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's?Facebook page, following?@b0yle on Twitter?and adding the?Cosmic Log page?to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out?"The Case for Pluto,"?my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2a24ed5c/l/0Lcosmiclog0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C290C175187930Ebee0Edeaths0Estir0Eup0Erenewed0Ebuzz0Dlite/story01.htm

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A breakthrough for Lebanese e-commerce? | Web-Release.info

Posted by admin in Events | 0 comments

The Lebanese blogosphere?lit?up?last week when PayPal announced at the ArabNet conference that it would begin offering services in the country later this year. A gaggle of online commentators welcomed the news, with responses ranging from excitement to mere relief. ?I can?t tell you how much this helps me,? one commenter said.

PayPal is the leading global service that manages online payments. It is owned by eBay, the world?s top online marketplace, and rose to prominence alongside the site. But it has branched out and is moving rapidly into mobile technology and other new trends.

Yet until now, those Lebanese wanting to buy goods or services via PayPal have been unable to, or have been forced to use foreign cards. The reason, the company says, was strategic ? Lebanon?s market was not ready before. Even now e-commerce is still in its infancy, with only 9 percent of Internet users active in it ? the vast majority for online banking rather than buying goods ? according to a new poll by Ipsos.

While PayPal?s arrival will make life easier for consumers, the real beneficiaries may be Lebanon?s businesses. ?We?re definitely excited,? said Mohammed Bakhash, project manager for?Mira-Cl?, a business consultancy that also builds websites for e-commerce companies. ?I know a lot of clients who are trying to get around the fact that PayPal isn?t available in Lebanon,? he says.

There are other services for online payments, but none stack up against PayPal, according to Bakhash. Currently, most e-commerce sites ?get around this issue by creating an account and having a virtual credit card,? he said, adding that some banks offer payment solutions as well, but they?re ?very complicated and they charge a lot.? PayPal, on the other hand, is simple, cheap and ubiquitous.

The timeline of the arrival is still unclear. Speaking to Executive, PayPal?s Business Development Manager for the MENA region, Francis Barel, said it will hopefully be before the end of the year, provided a launch in Egypt goes smoothly.??We have said we?re planning to come to Lebanon in 2013???so we?re hoping it will be by the end of the year, but it?s a long process.?

The online spin-off of Lebanon?s leading bookseller?Antoine?already uses PayPal, but only for customers with foreign bank accounts or credit cards. ?At first the [focus] of the site was to sell outside Lebanon,? says Cyril Hadji-Thomas, CEO and co-founder of Books Without Borders, which manages Antoine Online. But ?now the positioning has changed a bit?the growing market is Lebanese customers.? Currently, around sixty percent of Antoine Online?s sales are in Lebanon, he says.

Hadji-Thomas thinks PayPal?s security safeguards and ease of use mean it will be popular in the market. ?With PayPal you can link your identity and it?s secure. Most of the time people don?t want to fetch their credit card to pay? the whole process is easier,? he says.

He believes Antoine Online is uniquely positioned to take advantage of PayPal?s move into Lebanon as they have their own delivery service that is used to the chaos of Lebanon?s address system, while people can also pick up the product from in-store. This mix of physical infrastructure, combined with a lack of customs hassles, provides a competitive advantage over foreign e-commerce sites, he says. ?We think we have a better offer than Amazon in the country.?

The missing link

However, PayPal?s introduction will only be a game changer if it coincides with changes in the Lebanese attitude towards online shopping, where poor infrastructure and low levels of trust prevent people buying online. ?The main issue is having Lebanon get [used] to the e-commerce market as standard,? Hadji-Thomas says.

Part of the problem is that there is still no legal or regulatory framework for e-commerce in Lebanon. A draft law was shelved in 2010 after activists?complained?that it was so poorly written that it would have provided government bodies with sweeping powers over many aspects of online life.

Another?draft law?has been proposed to address these concerns and lay a basic framework for e-commerce regulation. A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not allowed to talk to the press, said that if enacted, ?a lot of issues might be resolved, including logistics, security, payments, downloading, quality of software and protecting the rights of stakeholders.?

The law would also provide for transactions involving the government, the representative explains. For example, ?when [the government] automated registration of trademarks, we had to resort to LibanPost to make payments and transport the documents. If we had this transaction law, everything could have been done over the web,? he says.

But whether the government moves on e-commerce or not, the private sector will continue to advance the field. According to PayPal, the lack of proper regulation is a hindrance, but the markets?cannot?wait?for government action. As Barel said, ?I think [Lebanon] is quite ready.?

Source Executive Magazine

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Related Press Releases:

Source: http://web-release.info/2013/03/30/a-breakthrough-for-lebanese-e-commerce/

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Steve Angello Says Swedish House Mafia 'Keeps On Going'

MTV News catches up with Angello after SHM's last show at Ultra Music Festival.
By Elizabeth Lancaster and Sam Hendrick

Steve Angello
Photo: Associated Press

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1704624/swedish-house-mafia-steve-angello-keeps-on-going.jhtml

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Reuters: Walmart looking into crowd-sourcing online delivery

Walmart is considering the slightly insane sounding idea of using its in-store customers to deliver online orders to help it compete with bricks and mortar-less competitors like Amazon, according to Reuters. The big box outfit currently ships internet purchases from just 25 of its stores using the likes of FedEx to handle delivery, but plans to drastically increase that number going forward. In theory, customers could sign up for the chore and drop packages off to customers who are on their route home in exchange for a discount. CEO Joel Anderson he could "see a path to where this is crowd-sourced," adding that "this is at the brain-storming stage, but it's possible in a year or two." Naturally, there's a gauntlet of insurance, theft, fraud and legal issues Walmart would need to run first -- along with the slightly skeevy idea of having a random stranger show up with your packages.

Filed under: Misc

Comments

Source: Reuters

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/28/reuters-wal-mart-looking-into-crowd-sourcing-online-delivery/

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AT&T to take orders for Galaxy S 4 on April 16

NEW YORK (AP) ? AT&T says it will start taking pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy S 4, the season's most eagerly awaited smartphone, on April 16 for $250.

The amount is $50 above the usual introductory price for high-end smartphones.

AT&T didn't say when the phone will go on sale in stores, or when the pre-orders will be delivered, but pre-orders usually start a week or two before deliveries.

The S 4 is the successor to the Galaxy S III, which has been the biggest competitor to Apple's iPhone. AT&T is the first U.S. carrier to announce a price and pre-order date, but others have said they'll sell the phone. British carriers started taking pre-orders on Thursday.

The Galaxy S 4 comes with a slightly bigger screen, a larger battery and a faster processor.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-03-28-ATandT-Samsung%20Galaxy%20S%204/id-c539af7602ae4646b08a0842b8343a5b

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