Friday, May 25, 2012

ASE Certified Auto Repair Shops in Sarasota, Florida | Bebo Tags

Regardless of model and type, vehicles need regular trips to an auto repair shop for diagnostics, auto tune up, and automotive repairs. This is a reality that vehicle owners in Sararota, Florida 34233 must accept. Vehicles need to undergo regular oil change service, air filtration system check-ups, and others services.

For the peace of mind of any vehicle owner, he or she must entrust his or her vehicle to an ASE certified repair shop. Automotive Service Excellence or ASE certification is acquired from the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence. It is a proof that the auto repair shop you have chosen can really deliver well in terms of automotive repairs and services such as auto AC repair or car AC Repair, check engine light, oil change service, auto tune up, and brake repair. Only those auto repair shops, automotive service professionals, technicians, and mechanic who pass the rigorous testing procedures will be qualified to get an ASE certification.

There is an ASE certification for specific categories in the automotive industry. ASE certification is classified according to specialization in the industry. To apply for ASE certification, an automotive service professional or technician needs to show proof that he or she has been in the business for a minimum of two years in the specialization category that he or she has applied for. Only after getting approval from this process can the person seeking ASE certification move to the actual testing part. The ASE certificate is renewed every five years to ensure that automotive professionals are constantly enhancing their skills.

It is important that you find yourself an ASE certified auto repair shop in Sarasota, Florida 34233. nothing can go possibly wrong in choosing to work with the experts and professionals who will give you the best auto service and automotive repairs. Though you can always try out new auto repair shop, it is best to check out the services of ASE certified auto repair shop so that you can be assured that your car is in good hands. There have been innumerable cases when a instead of ding repairs, auto repair shops did more damage. We surely do not want that to happen to us.

But of course, prevention is better than cure. Nothing beats proper maintenance and regular car servicing in ensuring that our car is at its optimum performance level. Though there are shops that we can trust for our auto AC repair or car AC Repair, check engine light, oil change service, auto tune up, and brake repair, keeping our cars regularly maintained is not only crucial in making that it stays roadworthy and safe to drive, but can also help to reduce the costs of repairs and breakdowns over the longer term. It also helps in maintaining fuel efficiency.

By sticking to a regular car check up schedule you can help to extend the life of your vehicle, and maintain the car?s performance as well as road safety. Constantly go to a ASE certified auto repair shop in Sarasota, Florida 34233. Over the long term, you will see tons of regular check-up and diagnostics including improved fuel efficiency, a reduction in the cost of breakdowns and repairs, as well as reducing the time your car might have to spend off the road.

Dave?s Auto Repair

4547 Bee Ridge Road

Sarasota, Florida 34233

Phone: (941) 371-5981?

Fax: 941-379-9504

www.davesauto.mechanicnet.comhttp://www.articlecity.com/

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Nations need food security goals

The biggest environmental summit for a decade must make meaningful progress on global food security and sustainable agriculture, say researchers.

CGIAR, the world's largest publicly funded research body, has published a seven-point "call to action" plan.

Ahead of the Rio gathering, scientists are calling for an improved commitment to deliver nutrition security and lessen the need to aid.

Agriculture is estimated to provide jobs for 40% of the world's population.

In its statement, CGIAR said: "Faced with environmental degradation, climate change... and a world population that is continuing to climb, it is critical for farm and natural resources management and policies to play a more central role in shaping the broader development and environmental agendas."

The organisations listed a seven-point "call to action" list, which they will present at the gathering in the Brazilian city, including:

  • Improved partnerships to maximise the management of agriculture, aquaculture, forest and water resources;
  • need to address unequal sharing of natural resources via better governance and dissemination of technology;
  • support for a knowledge sharing system to improve production and minimise adverse impacts;
  • adopting measures to restore degraded environments and ecosystems.

"One reason why it is necessary to push attention on to agriculture in Rio is because negotiations are going really slowly," explained CGIAR spokesman Bruce Campbell.

"We thought it was really important to put the focus on agriculture in Rio, and the 15 research organisations have come together in order to form a consortium and speak with one voice for the first time."

Dr Campbell added that the agencies were calling on the negotiators to reaffirm the role of science and technology.

"We are also looking for an improvement between the links between policy and science so then scientists are so much more linked into the processes that matter," he said.

The Rio+20 Conference, formally known as the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), will take place in Brazil on 20-22 June 2012.

The summit marks the 20th anniversary of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), which was also held in Rio de Janeiro, and the 10th anniversary of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Organisers say that the conference will focus on two themes: a green economy in the context of sustainable development poverty eradication; and the institutional framework for sustainable development.

Seven priority areas have also been identified, including: decent jobs, energy, sustainable cities, food security and sustainable agriculture, water, oceans and disaster readiness.

Heads of states from more than 100 nations are expected to attend the summit.

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Thursday, May 24, 2012

SpaceX mission to space station scrubbed for now

SpaceX's first attempt to send its Dragon cargo capsule to the International Space Station ended abruptly Saturday morning when computers aboard the company's Falcon 9 rocket shut off the craft's? engines just after ignition.

By Pete Spotts,?Staff writer / May 19, 2012

The SpaceX's first attempt to send its Dragon cargo capsule to the International Space Station ended abruptly Saturday morning when computers aboard the company's Falcon 9 rocket shut off the craft's engines just after ignition.

Michael Brown/Reuters

Enlarge

SpaceX's first attempt to send its Dragon cargo capsule to the International Space Station ended abruptly Saturday morning when computers aboard the company's Falcon 9 rocket shut off the craft's? engines just after ignition.

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The control system for the rocket, which uses a cluster of nine of the company's Merlin engines in its first stage, checks to ensure all the engines are running properly before the craft is released to begin its climb to space.

After a flawless countdown, the engines ignited at 4:55 a.m. as scheduled. But the flight-control computer detected too much pressure in the combustion chamber of one of the engines and aborted the pre-dawn launch. The next launch opportunity comes at 3:44 a.m. Monday.

This mission combines into one attempt the objectives of two demonstration flights the company must perform for NASA before it begins regular cargo runs to and from the International Space Station under a $1.6 billion, 12-mission space-station resupply contract.

SpaceX must show that the automated Dragon spacecraft is capable of the precision flying needed to operate safely in the station's vicinity before docking ? including a rendezvous-abort maneuver ? as well as perform the maneuvers needed to bring it within reach of the space station's robotic arm.

Once station crew members have Dragon in their grasp, they use the arm to dock the craft with the station.

This mission represents only the third for the Falcon 9. The rocket's initial test launch in June 2010 was successful. SpaceX's hardware cleared another key milestone the following December, when the company lofted, orbited, and recovered its Dragon capsule ? becoming the first commercial venture to pull off such a feat.

Although the previous successes have fed high expectations for this mission, SpaceX founder and chief designer Elon Musk cautioned during a press briefing in April previewing the mission that the rocket ?is still relatively new.?

At a post-scrub briefing Saturday morning, SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell said all nine engines ignited normally, but the flight-control computer detected too much pressure in engine five's combustion chamber, triggering the abort a half second later.

Although the rocket can still reach orbit if up to two engines fail, it needs all nine to lift off.

Asked if today's aborted launch represented a failure, she replied that it would have been a failure if the rocket had launched with the glitch.

After engines ignite, ?we hold the vehicle down for this purpose, to watch for this exact issue,? she said. ? Just like a pilot at the end of a runway revs the engines and looks at the gauges, we were revving the engines, looking at the gauges, and we decided not to fly,? she said. ??????????

Although problems like this can crop up if a pressure sensor or software is faulty, neither seems to be the case here. ?We can't blame the software guys for this one,? Shotwell said.

SpaceX saw a similar event during the Falcon 9's first launch in 2010, she said. But since that mission involved no on-orbit rendezvous, SpaceX was able to troubleshoot the problem and launch later the same day. Today, the launch window for the mission was only a few seconds long to ensure Dragon reaches the station with enough propellant for its thrusters to repeat test maneuvers if necessary.

A quick early look at the data on the engines indicated that the pressure was too high in engine five because it was running hot ? a sign it wasn't getting enough fuel, Ms. Shotwell said. Technicians will inspect the engine today to determine the cause and begin any repairs. If the engine needs to be replaced, SpaceX has another Falcon 9 in the hanger at the Kennedy Space Center technicians can tap for a replacement.

Ms. Shotwell noted that if the engine needs to be swapped, workers can perform the change-out and still have the rocket ready for another launch Monday. The next launch opportunity after that comes Tuesday morning at 3:22 a.m.

SpaceX is one of two companies that have contracts with NASA to provide resupply flights to the space station. The second is Orbital Science Corporation, which inked a deal worth $1.9 billion for eight resupply missions between 2012 and 2015. The company is slated to launch its Antares rocket and Cygnus cargo craft on their first demonstration flight later this year.

But the Falcon 9/Dragon package represents a unique capability for NASA and the space-station program, NASA officials say. Unlike all the other automated cargo craft supplying the station, Dragon is designed to bring cargo back to Earth as well ? ranging from samples used in on-orbit science experiments to space-station components that can be repaired or refurbished.

In a process started in 2006, NASA has turned to commercial launch providers to resupply the space station in order to focus its efforts on sending human explorers beyond low-Earth orbit. In addition to using commercial carriers for cargo, the agency is working with six companies on systems that would carry humans to low-Earth orbit as well.?

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HP to lay off about 27,000, profit slides 31 percent

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Wednesday, May 23, 2012

zync | Practical Strategy

Guest blogger Tyler B. Orchard (@TylerOrchard) shares some of the same views we do on how to best leverage an organization?s business plan in their brand and marketing. We call it Business Creative,?but we also love Tyler?s phrase ?Practical Strategy?:

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with?Brad Breininger, who is one of the founding partners of?Zync in Toronto. What is unique about Brad and his agency is that they have?seamlessly?integrated business development?ventures with creative services and experience. They have a refreshing vision for branding, which is grounded in the appreciation of raw business objectives. I would highly recommend that you visit their website and see?what?they are doing because they will revolutionize the entire communications, branding and PR industries.

I have always believed that marketing, branding and PR are not stand-alone elements of a business plan, yet many people today see these services as just that. The other aspect of this marketplace that has always left me with slight confusion is the unwavering and often blinding focus on strategy. I am the first person to say that strategy drives what you do, but the market today is saturated with people who focus too much on convoluted strategy than they do on practical application, pragmatic decision making and most?importantly, business objectives.

Strategy is a funny word. Many believe when they see this word the end product will be flawless. There are many professionals today that spend far too much time creating strategic plans that leave many of us scratching our heads. It?s those reports and briefings that resemble theoretical prose than anything close to realistic plans. What Brad?s agency has harnessed is something that we all covet ? the middle ground. They have reshaped how we look at the strategic process.

Business objectives are the reason clients seek out an agency or consultant. It may be re-branding, an increase in sales, brand reputation, expansion, internal/external communications, stakeholder relations, PR and the like. This is Point A. To take them to Point B there needs to be a plan. You wouldn?t be very successful if you made it up as you go, so you need a step-by-step process that meets those?objectives.

This is where the strategy comes in. This is also where the business objectives become blurry. Professionals get so bogged down in the strategic planning that the reason the client is there doesn?t seem all that clear anymore. It is often a process that is filled with?grandiose plans that seem impressive, but lack the reality of pure implementation and results.

Creativity is essential in the process, but it isn?t the sole element of the equation. Getting from Point A to Point B should not be a stop at Point C, D, E, F and Y. This is usually the road travelled and it has direct consequences on your overall objectives.

What I have always believed in, and what Brad not only preaches but practices, is practicality. Business objectives are the foundation of a company?s success in the marketplace. Your creative process and strategy should mirror that business plan, because it is the?road map?to their future as a brand or an?organization. To achieve this, your strategy shouldn?t reflect your boundless creative mind; it should reflect their core principles and culture in a creative form.

Practicality seems common sense, doesn?t it? Unfortunately, common sense isn?t all that common. Perhaps that is why Zync is a leading force in the industry. Their results speak for themselves ? they also highlight the need for those around them to understand the application of ?practical strategy? that is intertwined with business objectives.

Practical strategy isn?t built from the top down like many of today?s campaigns. Many of us take these large, dream-like ideas and work backwards to an actionable and implementable strategy. This defies not only logic, but also reality.

I cannot speak for Zync and the details of their strategic process with clients, but I believe strategy today needs to be built from raw business objectives outwards. This ensures the end result is actionable, succinct, focused, measurable, and practical in its application.

There is a?fallacious?belief that creative and business development don?t always mix. It?s a traditional way of thinking ? the silo mentality if you will. It is also a detrimental way of thinking. Creative and business may be two different entities, but they should be connected so closely that growth and advancement is?simultaneously?built by both.

The connection between the two is?practical strategy.

Strategy should not beget more strategy. It should create a campaign that exceeds?expectations and directly contributes to not only the client?s specific objectives, but also their overarching growth.

Those operating in this industry should take note. Convolution has the ability to cripple business. Creative should not be seen as a stand-alone element of a company (whether in-house or agency). It should be seen as a critical element of the entire organism.

Understanding, acknowledging and?appreciating?the?importance?of?practical strategy?as it pertains to business objectives defines your ability to take a company from Point A to Point B with success.

I see practical creative strategy as a vehicle that houses?traditional?business growth and advancement, not a?vehicle?that is pulling the business along with it as it turns left, right, left and right again.

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NFL making thigh and knee pads mandatory in '13

ATLANTA (AP) ? The NFL's move to make thigh and knee pads mandatory equipment for the 2013 season already has drawn criticism from the guys who will have to wear them.

Not long after Atlanta Falcons President Rich McKay, chairman of the competition committee, said at an owners meeting Tuesday that the league can apply the decision unilaterally, the players union and several members expressed their dissatisfaction.

First, the NFL Players Association argued that the move should be negotiated.

"Any change in working conditions is a collectively bargained issue," the union said in a statement. "While the NFL is focused on one element of health and safety today, the NFLPA believes that health and safety requires a comprehensive approach and commitment. We are engaged in and monitor many different issues, such as players' access to medical records, prescription usage and the situation with professional football's first responders, NFL referees.

"We always look forward to meeting with the NFL to discuss any and all matters related to player health and safety."

Then the players spoke up.

"I hate that," Raiders linebacker Travis Goethel said. "I don't want that at all. I don't like having anything restricting my movement in my legs. If you get hit in the thigh, it really doesn't do too much to help you out."

Added Broncos cornerback Drayton Florence:

"My opinion is that I don't want to wear them, but you have to follow the rules and policies. I just think that's a way for them to kind of cover themselves with things that have been going on in the past" such as concussions suffered in collisions with knees or thighs.

Commissioner Roger Goodell can't see any downside to extra protection. He noted that the NFL and union have been discussing hip, knee and thigh pads for three years.

"I believe the technology has improved, the pads are far better than a decade ago, they allow better performance and are more protective. Every other level of football uses the pads."

Goodell pointed out something a Nike executive told him recently: NBA players are wearing more pads from the hips down than NFL players.

"There is something wrong with that," Goodell said.

Should a player not have the pads on when he enters a game in 2013, he will be sent off the field by a game official.

"It's the same as if he ran on without a helmet," McKay said. "It is a safety rule."

The pads rule would not go into effect on the field until next year so equipment manufacturers can work on safety and comfort.

Goodell said he expects evidence in the Saints bounties case would be made public after all the player appeals and grievances have been heard. Release of any documents also could be delayed by Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma's defamation lawsuit against Goodell after the commissioner suspended Vilma for the entire 2012 season.

Goodell said he has "not spent a lot of time" on the lawsuit in which Vilma contends the commissioner made false statements that tarnished Vilma's reputation and hindered his ability to earn a living playing football.

"I've been around this league for 30 years and you are going to make decisions that will not be unanimous, it just doesn't happen, particularly in a game where there is a lot of emotion, a lot of passion," Goodell said. "What I have to do is what is in best interests of the game long term.

"You watch Pete Rozelle and Paul Tagliabue, you are part of the decision-making process, and you see how they go about it. You watch other leagues, try to take in every perspective.

"You don't worry about a popularity contest. You can't."

The owners also voted to move the trading deadline from after Week 6 to after Week 8, and to allow one "marquee" player placed on injured reserve to return to practice after the sixth week of the schedule and to the lineup after the eighth week. That player must be on the 53-man roster after the final preseason cut.

Terrell Suggs, the 2011 Defensive Player of the Year, could fall into that category. Suggs recently underwent surgery for a torn Achilles tendon. If the Ravens believe Suggs can make it back by midseason, as the linebacker has predicted, they could use the IR special designation for him.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft likes the adjustment because he knows firsthand how devastating an injury to a star player can be.

"It's good because I think it keeps the excitement in the game," Kraft said. "I know when we lost Tom Brady there was a feeling he could have come back at the end of the year. It would have been great for the fans, and I think every team has someone in that category."

Goodell said the league is closer to a decision on what to do with the Pro Bowl, which he called "not a competitive game" in January. He wants more discussions with the players about how to improve the quality of the game, but dropping it entirely still is possible.

"The issue is we recognize it is an all-star game, but we also believe fans expect more from an NFL game," he said. "If we believe we can achieve that, we want to give them every opportunity to do that."

Only New Orleans, site of next year's Super Bowl, and Honolulu are being considered if the Pro Bowl is held.

The league approved the Buffalo Bills playing one regular-season game every year from 2013-17 in Toronto, extending that international series. Expansion of the international series in London could come as early as next year, Goodell added.

While Cowboys and Redskins executives were in the owners meetings they learned that their grievance against the NFL and the NFLPA over reductions in their salary caps was dismissed. Dallas loses $10 million over this season and next and Washington loses $36 million.

Washington general manager Bruce Allen said the team is "obviously disappointed." Asked how losing another $18 million might inhibit the Redskins, he said: "We'll see. We'll have time to talk about it."

___

AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Stapleton in Denver, and Sports Writers Charles Odum in Atlanta and Josh Dubow in Oakland contributed to this story.

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Dollars and sense: Why are some people morally against tax?

Dollars and sense: Why are some people morally against tax? [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 23-May-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Ben Norman
Scholarlynews@wiley.com
44-012-437-70375
Wiley-Blackwell

As the U.S. presidential election campaigns heat up, the economic debate is dominated by bailouts, austerity and, inevitably, taxation. Now a new study published in Symbolic Interaction asks why tax is such an important issue to voters and explores the moral ideas which underpin their views.

Americans are famously hostile to taxes even though they are not heavily taxed in comparison to Canadians and the British. In their study Dr Jeff Kidder and Dr Isaac Martin, from Northern Illinois University and the University of California-San Diego, explore how middle class feelings of exploitation lie behind this hostility.

"Everyday tax talk among the middle class is not simply part of a wider ideological view about economics or free markets," said Kidder. "Tax talk is morally charged and resonates with how Americans see themselves and their place in society."

The researchers conducted 24 semi-structured, open-ended interviews with taxpayers in the Southern states who owned or managed small businesses to discover how they talk about taxes in everyday life. Entrepreneurs are a demographic group which is typically strongly anti-tax, while the Southern States provide many supporters for the radical Tea Party.

Respondents saw themselves as morally deserving and hard-working people, sandwiched between an economically more powerful group that manipulates the rules for its own benefit and a subordinate group that benefits from government spending but escapes taxation.

"We found that people associate income tax with a violation of the moral principle that hard work should be rewarded," said Kidder. "Our research shows that when Americans lash out at 'takeovers,' 'massive taxes' and 'bailouts,' they are looking at these issues from the perspective of a hard-working middle class besieged on all sides. Tax talk is about dollars, but it is also about a moral sense of what is right."

It is typically believed that those who are anti-tax will also be hostile to government aid for the poor and minorities. However, rich recipients of bailouts were also disparaged as people who did not deserve money because they did not work for it.

"A lot of the tax talk you will hear from politicians this election season makes no sense as arithmetic," Martin said. "But it makes sense as an appeal to the moral sensibilities of small business."

"Our research shows that tax talk is not actually about individual self-interest, but about our respondents' sense of the proper relations among groups," concluded Kidder. "It's a view summed up by one respondent: Don't take my paycheck."

###



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Dollars and sense: Why are some people morally against tax? [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 23-May-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Ben Norman
Scholarlynews@wiley.com
44-012-437-70375
Wiley-Blackwell

As the U.S. presidential election campaigns heat up, the economic debate is dominated by bailouts, austerity and, inevitably, taxation. Now a new study published in Symbolic Interaction asks why tax is such an important issue to voters and explores the moral ideas which underpin their views.

Americans are famously hostile to taxes even though they are not heavily taxed in comparison to Canadians and the British. In their study Dr Jeff Kidder and Dr Isaac Martin, from Northern Illinois University and the University of California-San Diego, explore how middle class feelings of exploitation lie behind this hostility.

"Everyday tax talk among the middle class is not simply part of a wider ideological view about economics or free markets," said Kidder. "Tax talk is morally charged and resonates with how Americans see themselves and their place in society."

The researchers conducted 24 semi-structured, open-ended interviews with taxpayers in the Southern states who owned or managed small businesses to discover how they talk about taxes in everyday life. Entrepreneurs are a demographic group which is typically strongly anti-tax, while the Southern States provide many supporters for the radical Tea Party.

Respondents saw themselves as morally deserving and hard-working people, sandwiched between an economically more powerful group that manipulates the rules for its own benefit and a subordinate group that benefits from government spending but escapes taxation.

"We found that people associate income tax with a violation of the moral principle that hard work should be rewarded," said Kidder. "Our research shows that when Americans lash out at 'takeovers,' 'massive taxes' and 'bailouts,' they are looking at these issues from the perspective of a hard-working middle class besieged on all sides. Tax talk is about dollars, but it is also about a moral sense of what is right."

It is typically believed that those who are anti-tax will also be hostile to government aid for the poor and minorities. However, rich recipients of bailouts were also disparaged as people who did not deserve money because they did not work for it.

"A lot of the tax talk you will hear from politicians this election season makes no sense as arithmetic," Martin said. "But it makes sense as an appeal to the moral sensibilities of small business."

"Our research shows that tax talk is not actually about individual self-interest, but about our respondents' sense of the proper relations among groups," concluded Kidder. "It's a view summed up by one respondent: Don't take my paycheck."

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