Video: Romney, Obama agree to agree

Dog debarking policy raises howls of protest

Sue Perry and Karen Mahmud, the owners of two debarked dogs, Porter and Lola, are demanding the American Veterinary Medical Association condemn the practice regarded as either barbaric mutilation or as the last resort of pet owners desperate to stop incessant noise.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/49542012#49542012

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Texas A&M Football: Could the Aggies Win the 2012 Big 12 with Johnny Manziel?

At 2-2 in league play it?s pretty clear that Texas A&M won?t win the SEC in its first year, but have you ever wondered how the new-look Aggies with super-frosh QB Johnny Manziel would have fared in the Big 12 this season?

Yes, what if the defectors would have been the stay-putters and Sumlin, Manziel and the No. 9 ranked scoring offense in college football would have been inserted squarely in what is currently a wide-open Big 12 race?

Could Texas A&M have captured its first conference title since 1998 and if they had (and gone to the BCS in the bargain) while Texas continued to flounder, what could have this scenario done to stabilize the Aggies long-term place in the Big 12?

Furthermore, what would the knock-on effect have been if A&M wasn?t a major domino in conference realignment and would there have ultimately been less shuffling or perhaps another huge shift that didn?t involve the Aggies?

The first key to all of this lofty talk is could Texas A&M really win the Big 12 in 2012?

To analyze this possibility we?ll assume that if the Aggies had of stayed then so too would have Missouri and that both West Virginia (from the Big East) and TCU (from the Mountain West, or the Big East) would have stayed put, at least for one more year.

As of now the new-look Aggies have the No. 9 ranked scoring offense in the country and they are No. 19 in rushing yards per game and No. 17 in passing.

On the other side of the ball, A&M is ranked No. 38 in scoring defense, No. 46 vs. the run and No. 90 against the pass?all numbers that are pulled directly off their stat sheets through Week 8 of the 2012 season.

In the reality of what is Texas A&M as a member of the SEC West, the Aggies will face (or have faced) eight SEC foes (we?ll throw out all the non-conference opponents because they?ll have been common in both scenarios) who combine to rank, on average, No. 37 nationally in scoring defense and No. 59 in scoring offense.

This number includes the extremes of Alabama?s No. 1 ranked scoring defense vs. Arkansas? No. 90 ranking in point-stoppage and the Tide?s No. 14 rated scoring offense vs. Auburn?s dismal No. 121 attack.

If you replace the Aggies? 2012 SEC opponent?s with the nine teams that were in the Big 12 last season (a number which includes Missouri) they currently (again, as of today) combine to rank No. 58 in scoring defense and No. 37 in scoring offense.

Extremes in the Big 12 include Oklahoma?s No. 12 ranked scoring defense vs. Baylor?s dubious No. 124 ranked unit and then Baylor?s No. 3 ranked scoring offense vs. a Kansas O that ranks No. 117 in points.

Basically what this all means is that if A&M?s big game offense was still playing in the Big 12 they?d be facing defenses that rank No. 58 in scoring vs. those of their 2012 SEC foes that rank No. 37.

That?s a big difference that would likely equal even more yards and points for a program that has unleashed freshman Johnny Manziel and ushered in the new Kevin Sumlin era in College Station.

Flipping around to the other side of the ball, because it ain?t all about point scoring, we see that Texas A&M?s No. 38 ranked scoring defense in 2012 will face the No. 59 ranked offensive attacks of the SEC (at least the eight members the Aggie play this season).

?Alternatively, if they would have stayed ?home? the Aggies would have dealt with the No. 37 ranked point scorers from the points-happy Big 12.

This number should be quantified by further stating that the Ags weakness on defense, their No. 90 ranking vs. the pass, only squares off with the No. 80 ranked passing attack in the SEC vs. the guys who combine for a No. 52 ranking in the Big 12.

Though based on these numbers you could almost call it a draw when you balance the SEC?s defensive strength (that has and probably will continue to hinder Manziel and Co. in league play) with the Big 12?s offensive brute force (that would wreak havoc on A&M?s pass defense) the Aggies still look better suited to win the Big 12 in 2012.

Why?

Well, first you?ve got to wonder how different the? numbers would look if Texas A&M had earned its 2012 stats vs. the likes of Baylor?s epically bad defense along with Texas? and Kansas? very questionable units.

Really, how many more yards would they have gained (and therefore who could they have outscored) vs. these guys as opposed to Florida, LSU and Alabama?s defenses?

It?s a different scenario entirely.

Next, let?s say A&M actually won the SEC-West?then they?d have to really shock the world and win the SEC title game?aka the gateway to the BCS title.

In the Big 12 all they would have had to do was emerge at the end of the season with one-less conference loss than the rest of the pack.

Though you could effectively argue that Johnny Manziel and Texas A&M would have had to work really hard to win the Big 12 in 2012, what would both young QB and young team in a new coaching regime done in 2013, 2014 and 2015 as they grew together into maturity in their old league home?

The flip side of this long term coin is what will the Aggies and Johnny Football do when teams like Alabama and LSU just fill holes with more talented players and teams like Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Auburn continue to improve?

And then what happens when South Carolina, Georgia or Tennessee hit the slate from the East?

Texas A&M football seems to be moving in the right direction (finally) but it makes you wonder what would have happened if the Aggies hadn?t of pulled up stakes relatively suddenly and moved eastward.

Could they have actually been sitting on a gold mine of titles and accolades that hadn?t yet hatched?

Indeed, did Texas A&M ride off into the sunset in the name of injustice while in an ironic twist they left town just before their ship was about to reach the dock?

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1381986-texas-am-football-could-the-aggies-win-the-2012-big-12-with-johnny-manziel

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Abatalay Condos set for Pattaya | Property Report | The trusted ...

Abatalay Condos are currently offering several perks to investors.

Abatalay Condominium is an eight-storey development comprised of 215 studio units. The development is located near coastal resort of Jomtien Beach in Pattaya.

Prices for foreign ownership start from ?15,000 (US$24,000) for a single studio unit and multiple units can be purchased to make one-bedroom and two-bedroom condominiums. Units on the ground floor of the development can be bought for commercial use, whilst residents on the upper floors have breathtaking views of the ocean.

?Thailand, Pattaya in particular, has always been a core market for us,? Lee Chettoe, senior property consultant and Thailand specialist at Knight Knox International, said. ?It is important for us to constantly seek out the hottest projects to bring to our investors.?

This development has been designed to the highest specifications, with facilities and amenities including a roof-top swimming pool with ocean views, a roof-top fitness centre which affords views of Jomtien and an eight-storey atrium running down the centre of the building.

Knight Knox International is currently offering investors several incentives for purchasing now including, pre-launch pricing, furniture packs and free air-conditioned units.

Filed Under: Country News ? News ? Thailand

Tags: Abatalay Condos ? housing ? new development ? pattaya ? Thailand

Source: http://www.property-report.com/abatalay-condos-set-for-pattaya-25686

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Wolverton: Windows 8's awkward interface makes it one for PC users to avoid

Click photo to enlarge

Jyll L. Stuart, president of Veracity Technologies, works on migrating an app that currently runs on Windows Tablet to run on Windows 8 Azure Cloud, during a Microsoft Windows 8 Developer Workshop at the Kurz Purdue Technology Center, in West Lafayette, Ind., on Friday, Oct. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Journal & Courier, Brent Drinkut)

As a PC user, I hate -- a word I use sparingly -- the new interface that is the centerpiece of Windows 8.

With the new version of its flagship operating system, due out Friday, Microsoft has replaced its tried-and-true desktop interface with what it called until recently the Metro interface. Instead of a start button, taskbar and windows filled with applications and folders, Metro features a screen full of program "tiles" and applications that run full-screen.

While I think this interface has a lot of promise for tablets, on a traditional desktop or laptop computer, or even on a newer notebook sporting a touch screen, it's clunky and unintuitive. Metro often feels like a work in progress, because seemingly obvious features are unavailable. And worst of all, Metro makes it much harder than before to do everyday tasks and real work on your computer.

Take the idea of viewing multiple applications on your screen, a core feature of Windows since even before Windows 95. You can't do it in the Metro interface.

Oh, sure, you can split the screen between two -- and only two -- open applications. But this feature, called Snap, is all but worthless.

Microsoft only allows the screen to be split vertically by a predesignated ratio. Supposedly, one application gets a third of the screen and the other two-thirds. Users can't change that ratio so that, say, each application gets half. Nor can they arrange the apps so that one is

on top of the other, rather than having them side by side.

What's worse is that, at least on my computer, one-third of the screen was grossly overstating the amount of screen space devoted to the smaller application area; it actually was given less than a fifth of the screen space. Thanks to that, the text on Web pages was either so small as to be unreadable or -- if you zoomed in -- displayed so that you had to constantly scroll left and right to view a whole page.

But you don't just lose actual windows with Windows 8's Metro interface. You also typically lose the standard menu bar long used to interact with and control Windows applications. In its place, you have controls that are accessible only if you know where to swipe or point your mouse. Because the placement of these controls is haphazard and inconsistent, you'll find yourself guessing the location of commands you formerly found easily.

If you want to add an account to the Mail app, for example, you have to bring up what Microsoft calls the "charm bar" and tap on settings. If you want to move a message into a particular folder, you can't drag and drop it; instead, you have to swipe from the top or bottom of the screen, tap on the "move" command, and then tap on a folder.

Thanks in part to these pared-down and hidden controls, the apps that run under Metro often feel like kid versions of older desktop programs. This difference is most notable with the Metro version of Internet Explorer.

Just as Metro doesn't support windowed applications, Metro Internet Explorer doesn't support tabbed browser windows. You can have multiple Web pages open at once, but to view them or switch directly to particular pages, you have to swipe from the top of the screen to get a view of the thumbnails of your open pages.

If you're like me and you've come to depend on tabbed browsing to manage multiple open pages, it's disorienting to not be able to see your open pages and frustrating to have to go through an extra step to access them.

Unfortunately, when it comes to Metro applications in general, you'll find lots missing. At least right now, there's no Photoshop, no Quicken, no iTunes and no Firefox. So, if you use those and other applications, you'll end up spending lots of time in Windows 8's version of the traditional Windows desktop.

That would be OK if you could just boot directly to that desktop. But Microsoft won't allow you to do so; instead, everyone has to use the Metro start screen and will find themselves constantly switching back and forth to the old desktop.

Metro is not all bad for PC users; there are some things I do like about it. One great feature is that on the Metro start screen, you can search for an app by simply typing its name, no need to click on a search bar or a start button.

Another interesting feature is that the application tiles on the start screen act like widgets, displaying up-to-date information, which makes them more useful than the old static program icons.

But for PC users, these types of benefits are far outweighed by the regular frustrations of using Metro. If you want to use Windows 8 on a tablet, it's well made for that purpose. But I'd avoid it on a PC.

Contact Troy Wolverton at 408-840-4285 or twolverton@mercurynews.com. Follow him at www.mercurynews.com/troy-wolverton or Twitter.com/troywolv.

What: Microsoft Windows 8
Likes: Ability to search for apps from start screen just by typing; widget-like app tiles, updated appearance
Dislikes: No ability to view multiple app windows at one time; menu bar replaced with inconsistent controls; no way to circumvent Metro at startup; relatively few Metro apps
Web: www.windows.com

Source: http://www.presstelegram.com/ci_21823707/wolverton-review-microsoft-windows-8-awkward-interface-pc-users-avoid?source=rss_viewed

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Mars Methane Mystery: Curiosity Rover May Find New Clues

There?s growing buzz about data gleaned by NASA?s Mars rover Curiosity, specifically over the issue of methane detection on the Red Planet.

On one hand, methane can be geological in origin. But then there?s the prospect that the gas is biotic, or caused by living organisms ? meaning it could be the gaseous residue of long-extinct microbes or even the output of Martian organisms alive and well today.

Toted by Curiosity is the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite, gear that takes up more than half the science payload on the 1-ton rover. Though SAM?s components would ordinarily fill a laboratory here on Earth, they have been miniaturized to roughly the size of a microwave oven in order to fit inside the robot.

SAM?s duty is to analyze gases that are either "sniffed" directly from the Martian atmosphere (which it has done several times) or extracted from soil or powdered rock samples by heating or chemically treating the samples.

Provided by NASA?s Goddard Space Flight Center, SAM is on the search for compounds of the element carbon, including methane, that are associated with life. SAM will also explore ways in which those compounds are generated and destroyed in the Martian ecosphere. [Mars Methane: Could It Mean Life? (Video)]

According to Goddard's SAM website, determining the presence or absence of organic molecules would be important science results, as either one would provide important information about the environmental conditions of Gale Crater, where Curiosity touched down on Aug. 5.

If SAM does find organic material, the next step would be to determine the origin and the nature of preservation of the molecules.

But if SAM does not find organic material, a better place to look might be below the surface.

Key question

"The key question about methane on Mars is not its presence, but its variability," said Chris McKay, space scientist and Mars specialist at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif. As shown by many engaged in the methane-on-Mars issue, it is known that organics are falling onto the surface of Mars and that ultraviolet light produces methane from them, he told SPACE.com.

"So there will certainly be methane at some level, possibly well below one part per billion," McKay said.

"But what was surprising in the Mars Express results and the Earth-based observations was the variability," he added, referring to the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter. "Methane on Mars should have a lifetime of 300 years and should not be variable. If it is variable, this is very hard to explain with present theory. It requires unexpected sources and unexpected sinks."

In terms of Curiosity?s SAM instrument, McKay said that the key will be the tracking of whatever methane is seen over time.

"If it?s constant, then this can be reconciled with normal processes and a meteoritic source of organics. If it?s highly variable, then all bets are off." [5 Bold Claims of Alien Life]

Waiting to exhale

"Methane should be there," said astrobiologist Dirk Schulze-Makuch of Washington State University in Pullman. One of his research interests focuses on the interaction of microbes with their natural geological environment in an aqueous medium.

Schulze-Makuch?s view, he said, is based on three independent earlier studies, with methane usually associated with biological activity or ancient biology activity.

"Methane is really quite a rare gas in hydrothermal/volcanic exhalations; thus a methane detection with the rover would be exciting and could point to biology, especially if detected in relatively large amounts," Schulze-Makuch told SPACE.com.

"Even more exciting," Schulze-Makuch said, "would be if the carbon in the methane has an isotopic fractionation that is consistent with biology. If the methane is produced by organisms ? for example, metabolism ? then we expect a shift to the lighter isotopes. In essence because life is lazy, same effect, with less work compared to inorganically produced carbon."

Whether any Mars methane detections would be sufficiently high to determine the isotope ratio, Schulze-Makuch said, is a wait-and-see moment. "But it would be very exciting. To try and determine the isotopic fractionation and a good inorganic baseline for carbon would be the next step in my view." [7 Biggest Mysteries of Mars]

Modeling research

Malynda Chizek, an astronomy graduate student at New Mexico State University, recently outlined her research results on mapping the simulated methane distribution during different seasons on Mars. She presented her findings during last week?s American Astronomical Society?s Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) meeting in Reno, Nev.

Chizek told SPACE.com that she too is eager to see the Curiosity results announced.

Chizek is working on computer simulations using the NASA/Ames Mars Atmospheric General Circulation Model to replicate trace gases in the Martian atmosphere. Her modeling research enables the tracing back of detected methane to its source location to see whether it is coming from something like a volcanic source, water surface chemistry interaction or bacteria living on or near the surface.

Counting cows

Chizek said that there have been several claims of methane detection in the past decade, from Mars-orbiting spacecraft as well as telescopic observations from Earth. But those claims tend to be controversial, she said, because observations suggest that it?s varying in abundance on a very quick time scale, which is unexpected.

Detecting methane on Mars could lead to evidence of life, as roughly 95 percent of the methane in Earth?s atmosphere is a product of biology, Chizek said. In her recent talk at the DPS meeting, she underscored the volume and significance of methane on Mars by using a very Earthly creature that produces the gas: cows.

So how many cows would be required to equal the amount of methane that scientists have observed on Mars?

"Depending on which observations I am looking at, that number is close to 5 million cows, or roughly 200,000 tons of methane production per year," Chizek reported.

What next?

Whatever methane news the Curiosity rover uncovers, more work is ahead, Chizek said.

"In order to constrain the Martian methane origin, I would need to know about the variation in methane measurements by Curiosity over time. So, I would want the rover to take many more measurements, which I assume is the plan if they do detect methane," Chizek said.

Chizek said that if there is only about a plus/minus 10 percent variation over time, then it might suggest that the methane is leftover from some unknown event in the past.

"If the methane abundance variation has a definite seasonal variation, then it might suggest some sort of biological origin, although there are also some geological mechanisms which might respond to seasonal change," Chizek said. "If there is a random, sporadic change in methane abundance, then I think it would likely be a geological production or release mechanism."

Chizek added that the latter two also require an as-yet unknown methane destruction or removal mechanism, while the 10 percent variation is what would be expected, shored up by current knowledge of long-lived, noncondensing gases in the Martian atmosphere.

"Mars is thought to be a geologically dead planet," Chizek said in a statement released by New Mexico State University. "If the methane detections are confirmed, and we do not find any signs of bacterial life, this means there are likely some interesting geological processes happening on Mars that we don?t yet know about."

Leonard David has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. He is a winner of last year's National Space Club Press Award and a past editor-in-chief of the National Space Society's Ad Astra and Space World magazines. He has written for SPACE.com since 1999.

Copyright 2012 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mars-methane-mystery-curiosity-rover-may-clues-215808072.html

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Survey shows China's manufacturing improving

BEIJING (AP) ? China's manufacturing improved this month, adding to signs a recovery might be taking shape after a sharp slump in the world's No. 2 economy.

A preliminary version of HSBC's monthly purchasing managers' index rose to a three-month high of 49.1 points on a 100-point scale, the bank said Wednesday. That still was below the 50-point level that indicates a contraction but was a strong improvement from September's 47.9.

That added to data last week that showed retail sales and investment picking up. Economic growth in the three months ending in September fell to a three and a half year low of 7.4 percent but the decline was much gentler than in earlier quarters. Activity grew by 2.2 percent over the previous quarter, the biggest such gain in a year.

HSBC Corp. said the preliminary reading is based on responses from 85 to 90 percent of the 420 companies it surveys each month. The final index is due out Nov. 1.

"October's flash PMI reading continues to recover for the second month, thanks in part to a gradual improvement in the new orders index, which picked up to a six-month high," said HSBC economist Hongbin Qu in a statement.

But Qu warned that challenges "still abound" and the job market faces pressure.

"This calls for a continuation of policy easing in the coming months to secure a firmer growth recovery," he said.

The Chinese numbers are rare good news for the world economy, which has slowed as Europe's chronic debt crisis worsened and the American economy stagnated.

Analysts have cautioned that a Chinese recovery is likely to be "L-shaped," meaning the decline might have stopped but improvements in growth should be gradual. That would be a setback for exporters of commodities and other goods that are counting on China to help drive a rebound in global demand.

The slowdown was due largely to government curbs imposed to cool an overheated economy and reduce reliance on exports by encouraging more domestic consumption. The slump worsened last year after global demand for Chinese goods plunged unexpectedly.

Chinese leaders have cut interest rates twice since early June and are pumping money into the economy through high spending by state companies and on building airports and other public works but have avoided a large stimulus.

Data last week showed retail sales rose 14.4 percent in September, accelerating from the first half's 14.1 percent growth. Investment in factories and other fixed assets improved, rising 20.5 percent in the first nine months of the year, up from a 20.2 percent rate for the first eight months.

China's expansion is strong compared with the United States and Japan, where this year's growth is forecast in low single digits, but the slowdown has been painful for companies that depend on strong demand for new factories and other goods.

The slump raised the risk of job losses and unrest, posing a challenge to the ruling party as it prepares for a once-a-decade handover of power to younger leaders.

Premier Wen Jiabao, the country's top economic official, said last week growth appeared to be stabilizing and expressed confidence China can meet its official targets for the year. Wen gave no growth forecast or a possible time frame.

The ruling Communist Party's official growth target this year is 7.5 percent, well below the double-digit levels of recent years.

Growth could rebound to about 8 percent in the current quarter, said Credit Agricole CIB economist Dariusz Kowalczyk in a report.

"It is increasingly clear that no further measures to stimulate growth are needed," said Kowalczyk. "Markets may be disappointed to realize that Chinese recovery will be gradual and no new stimulus is forthcoming."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/survey-shows-chinas-manufacturing-improving-024404842--finance.html

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White House downplays emails sent during Benghazi attack

The White House this morning attempted to down-play the significance of emails sent to top national security officials during the attack on the diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, one of which suggested a known terrorist group claimed credit for the attack in its immediate aftermath.

As obtained by ABC News' John Parkinson and posted last night, the emails seem to be ones sent by the State Department Operations Center to distribution lists and email accounts for the top national security officials at the State Department, Pentagon, the FBI, the White House Situation Room and the office of the Director of National Intelligence.

One of the emails reported that officials that Ansar al-Sharia claimed responsibility for the Benghazi attack on Facebook and Twitter, and had threatened to attack the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli.

In the first couple weeks after the attack, the White House and Obama administration generally blamed the attack on a demonstration an anti-Muslim video that got out of control. On September 14, White House press secretary Jay Carney asserted that " we have no information to suggest that it was a preplanned attack." Only later would the Obama administration say the attack was planned.

White House officials maintained that the emails don't contradict what the White House believed at that point, based on the intelligence community's assessment of the attack. The views of the intelligence community are valued far more than Facebook and twitter claims, officials said, describing that email as an unclassified ops alert email, not a vetted intelligence assessment. It was not definitive, but rather the act of flagging open source reporting referencing a Facebook post, and - officials noted - on September 17, Ansar al-Sharia denied responsibility for the attack.

Carney today told reporters that there were emails about all sorts of information that was coming available in the aftermath of the attack. "There was a variety of information coming in," Carney said. "The whole point of an intelligence community and what they do is to assess strands of information and make judgments about what happened and who was responsible."

Moreover, officials said, the intelligence community still believes there wasn't a tremendous amount of planning before the attack. A terrorist group carrying it out doesn't mean it wasn't an opportunistic attack, officials said.

The first email , with a subject line of "U.S. Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi Under Attack," sent about 25 minutes after the attack began, states: "Regional Security Officer reports the diplomatic mission is under attack. Embassy Tripoli reports approximately 20 armed people fired shots; explosions have been heard as well. Ambassador Stevens, who is currently in Benghazi, and four COM (Chief of Mission) personnel are in the compound safe haven. The 17th of February militia is providing security support."

The next email sent at 4:54 PM states that the shooting has stopped and the compound was cleared, adding that a response team was "onsite attempting to locate COM personnel."

-Jake Tapper and John Parkinson

Get more pure politics at ABC News.com/Politics and a lighter take on the news at OTUSNews.com

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/white-house-responds-release-real-time-emails-benghazi-151141456--abc-news-politics.html

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What Makes an Entrepreneur?

Pin It

A model of entrepreneurship where real innovation happens in the space between insanity and reality ? presented as a Venn Diagram. Via Flickr user michaellewkowitz

Previous: Week One: Reaching out to Entrepreneurs of the Future

The term ?entrepreneur? is a phrase that seems to be thrown around, I use it, StartUp Britain uses it, everybody uses it, but does anybody actually know what it means?

The dictionary defines an entrepreneur as;

?a?person?who?organizes?and?manages?any?enterprise, especially?a?business,?usually?with?considerable?initiative and?risk.?

But to me, an entrepreneur is a maverick, a business owner who lights up a room with enthusiasm and passion ? they?re bold, brave and bright. They?re not always rich and successful, but they look at the world in a unique way, and I can spot one a mile off.

Some however, take a different approach. Matt Lane from BeerBods believes that anyone who has?moulded?an idea for business into a reality is an entrepreneur. Whether to friends, and family, or to a mass market. But I have to disagree, and Neil Barnfather agrees with me. In his latest blog he explains his opinion that to be a true entrepreneur you must have started serial businesses.

? the entrepreneur is ?permanently pedantic? ? Matthew Allen

Why? Because the entrepreneurial spirit does not allow for satisfaction, it itches for more. It is not fulfilled by creating just one business, it searches for more problems to be fixed, and it must fix it itself. Matthew Allen of Allen IP phrased this very succinctly when he said that the entrepreneur is ?permanently pedantic?. There seems to be a synthesis of views from everybody I spoke to on this point ? both Neil and Matt and several others whom I spoke to on the topic stated that entrepreneurialism is a ?methodology? ? a unique approach to the world.

Enough of the fancy words. Let?s break down what really makes an entrepreneur:

  • Passion ? an entrepreneur must have a passion for the world, and making it a better place ? spotting where things could be improved.
  • Drive ? an entrepreneur must have the drive and dedication to make their business succeed, a running capacity of 120%.
  • Confidence ? this comes hand in hand with passion and drive ? you must have the confidence to communicate your passion and drive to others.
  • Taking a financial risk ? I?m not talking silly ?all on red? financial risk ? but they must believe in their business enough to take a financial plunge.
  • Successes and failures ? the most successful entrepreneurs have a few failed ideas under their belt. It?s all trial and error.

If you?re an entrepreneur you probably wont have:

  • A life ? I?m not joking. You live for your work.
  • The ability to let others take control ? you?re the best at everything, obviously.

If an entrepreneur?s brain were spliced, I think it would look a lot like this lovely infographic:

Courtesy of firmology.com

Maybe I have a skewed, majestic view of what an entrepreneur is, but I think Neil sums my interpretation up brilliantly when he said that there is ?no such thing as an unemployed entrepreneur?. What do you think?

To get a sense of what drives us, check out this?Interview with StartUp Brtiain Co-founder Emma Jones?and if you have any questions about the Tour please leave them in the comments section below, or e-mail us at?emily@startupbritain.co.

About StartUp Britaincompany

StartUp Britain is a national campaign to inspire, accelerate and celebrate entrepreneurship within the UK, with the full support of the Government....

See full bio ?

Source: http://urbantimes.co/2012/10/what-makes-an-entrepreneur-definition/

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Welcome to Zambia, President Joyce Banda

. President Banda

WE join the nation in extending a warm welcome to Malawian President Joyce Banda who arrives in Lusaka today to commence a three-day State visit, the first such visit to Zambia since she assumed office in April, this year following the demise of President Bingu wa Mutharika.??

It is significant to note that Pre

Source: http://www.times.co.zm/?p=16662

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