Mystery Light Show Dazzles Web

We've heard of the Northern Lights. But we've never seen anything like this. The good people

of northern Norway were recently treated to quite a display. As you'll see in the video, a

town was lit up with what looks like a shooting blue star that burst into a giant white

spiral that then beams a ray of blue light from its center. It is beautiful and baffling.

And completely mysterious.

Those who missed the Arctic show headed to the Web, causing searches on "norway spiral" to

immediately surge into the stratosphere.

There has got to be a logical explanation: Residents hailing a masked superhero, perhaps? A

Spirograph Photoshopped into the sky? Imminent alien invasion? Well, the various independent

photos and videos coming in confirm it's not a fake. Scientists have said it's not the

Northern Lights, although it is in the north and it is a light. One Norwegian astronomer

quoted by the Daily Mail opined that at first he thought it was a "fireball meteor," but it

went on too long. The reason behind the show is probably man-made.

More than likely say experts, it was a Russian missile. While the Russian Defense Ministry

would not comment, the circumstantial evidence is mounting that this is what a spiraling

rocket jettisoning fuel looks like. And it sure is pretty.

Government agrees to form Telangana, KCR ends fast

Bowing to mass pressure and fearing for the detereorating condition of Telangana Rashtra

Samiti (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao, on a fast unto death, the central government late

Wednesday pledged to form a separate Telangana state carved out of 10 districts of Andhra

Pradesh.

Meeting the five-decade long demand of the region that includes Hyderabad, the Congress-led

United Progressive Alliance government said the process for formation of Telangana state

would be initiated soon.

Spotlight : Telangana on the boil

After several rounds of meetings of the top brass of the Congress in New Delhi, Home

Minister P. Chidambaram announced that a resolution would be moved in the state assembly.

'The process of forming the state of Telangana will be initiated. An appropriate resolution

will be moved in the state assembly,' said the statement read out by Chidambaram in New

Delhi.

The announcement, which came at the end of a day of hectic developments both in Hyderabad

and Delhi, was greeted with joyous scenes here and in nine other districts of Telangana.

The Telangana region has been on the boil as TRS chief's condition had turned critical

Wednesday, the 11th day of his fast unto death, and Hyderabad was turned into a fortress by

police fearing large-scale violence during the march to assembly planned by TRS and students

Thursday.

KCR, who had launched the fast in Khammam jail Nov 29 after his arrest near Karimnagar town,

broke the fast at Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) here, capping the 11-day long

agitation which saw students, lawyers, government employees, industrial workers and other

sections of people taking to the streets demanding a separate state.

Talking to reporters in the intensive care unit of NIMS, KCR broke down while paying

tributes to those who laid down their lives for the formation of Telangana.

At least 25 people either committed suicide or died of shock since KCR's arrest.

In 1969, during the agitation for a separate state, 369 people, most of them students had

laid down their lives.

KCR, as Chandrasekhar Rao is popularly known, thanked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA

chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani and others who supported the

Telangana cause.

Outside NIMS, hundreds of TRS activists, students and Telangana sympathisers celebrated the

victory by bursting crackers and distributing sweets.

'It is a memorable moment for 3.5 crore people of Telangana. India achieved independence at

the stroke of midnight and separate Telangana state has also become a reality at midnight,'

said a beaming Manda Krishna Madiga, a backward class leader supporting the movement.

Chidambaram, in his statement, said: 'We have asked the chief minister (K. Rosaiah) to

withdraw the cases against leaders, students and others associated with the agitation. The

chief minister said he will take necessary action.'

'We are concerned about Chandrasekhara Rao's health and we request him to withdraw the fast.

We also request all others, especially students to withdraw the agitation,' he added.

TRS leaders expect Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Rosaiah, on his arrival here, would provide

details like when the resolution would be moved in the assembly.

KCR's son K. Tarakarama Rao said he hoped that the Congress would not only move the

resolution but take it to the logical conclusion.

'We hope to see a clear road map for formation of Telangana state,' he said.

Students of Osmania University, the nerve centre of the agitation, Kakatiya University in

Warangal and other groups fighting for separate state were jubilant.

Hundreds of students at Osmania University were seen dancing and raising slogans of 'Jai

Telangana' soon after Chidambaram announced in Delhi that a resolution would be moved in the

state assembly.

Firm Body, No Workout Required?

Can you give your muscles a better workout simply by changing your shoes?

The athletic shoe giant Reebok claims you can. The new EasyTone walking shoe, a provocative

new marketing campaign says, leaves leg and buttock muscles better toned than regular

walking shoes.

Consumers are buying it — literally. Officials from Reebok, a unit of Adidas, say the

EasyTone is the company’s most successful new product in at least five years.

Other companies have marketed shoes that promise a physiological benefit. Masai Group

International, of Switzerland, sells the MBT, a “rocker” shoe with a curved sole, said to

ease arthritis and back pain. Shape-Ups from Skechers USA are designed to improve posture

and muscle tone and promote weight loss. The FitFlop brand has been engineered to increase

leg, calf and gluteal muscle activity, giving the wearer “a workout while you walk.”

While most athletic shoes offer support and cushioning, the new muscle-activating shoes are

engineered to create a sense of instability. Design elements like curved soles and Reebok’s

“balance pods” are said to force the wearer to engage stabilizing muscles further, resulting

in additional toning for calf, hamstring and gluteal muscles.

That sounds great, but do they really work? To support the claims, the shoemakers each offer

company-financed exercise studies suggesting that the shoes produce a higher level of muscle

engagement, at least in a controlled research setting.

But the studies don’t show whether more engagement leads to meaningful changes in muscle

tone or appearance over time. Nor is it clear whether the high level of engagement continues

once the walker becomes accustomed to the shoe.

Reebok’s EasyTone has made the biggest splash in the muscle-shoe market, especially with its

advertising. In one commercial, the camera drifts away from the woman’s face and zooms in on

her backside. Another advertisement claims that the leg and butt-toning effects of EasyTone

will “make your boobs jealous.”

The advertisements, aimed at younger women, have appeared in magazines and online, and a big

television campaign is under way: 3,000 commercial slots have been scheduled on network and

cable in November and December.

But the claim that the shoes offer muscle toning is backed by a single study involving just

five people, not published in a peer-reviewed academic journal. In that study, done at the

University of Delaware, five women walked on a treadmill for 500 steps wearing either the

EasyTone or another Reebok walking shoe, and while barefoot. Using sensors that measure

muscle activity, the researchers showed that wearing the EasyTone worked gluteal muscles an

average of 28 percent more than regular walking shoes. Hamstring and calf muscles worked 11

percent harder.

Reebok’s head of advanced innovation, Bill McInnis, said the size of the study was adequate

to determine the effect of the shoe and added that exercise studies of this nature commonly

used small numbers of participants.

The EasyTone is the brainchild of Mr. McInnis, a former NASA engineer, who said he was

interested in the stability balls used in gym workouts and wanted to translate the

technology to a shoe. In particular, he was intrigued by the Bosu ball, a small half-sphere

that exercisers stand on during workouts as a way to engage leg and core muscles better.

In designing the EasyTone, Mr. McInnis and his team sought to mimic that concept by adding

“balance pods” to the toe and heel of the shoe. As the person walks, the air pushes back and

forth between toe and heel, and the person sinks into the shoe. The effect is similar to

that of walking on a sandy beach — which requires more work, balance and muscle engagement

than walking on a flat surface.

John Lynch, head of United States brand marketing for Reebok, said the company’s market

research showed that four out of five women were especially interested in products that

toned their leg and gluteal muscles. Mr. Lynch added that retailers were reporting brisk

sales of the shoe; one Los Angeles sporting goods store reported that its Reebok sales more

than doubled in November.

Reebok says it has collected 15,000 hours’ worth of wear-test data from shoe users who say

they notice the difference. “They definitely feel something in their muscles after they’ve

walked in the product,” Mr. McInnis said.

One of them is Carol Vanner, 51, an executive assistant in Atlanta who had tried the

larger-soled FitFlop shoe and was skeptical she would notice much difference with the

EasyTone.

“I thought there was no way they would work, but I tried them and I felt like I had worked

out,” she said. “Do I look like I’m 20? No, but I feel like when I wear them for periods of

time that I have exercised and worked those muscles.”

Shay Gipson, 31, an apparel product manager in New York City, said she tried the shoes after

hearing a friend rave about them. She immediately felt the balancing effect, she said, and

she likes walking in the shoe.

“I can definitely feel the muscle groups in my legs working more than I would in regular

shoes,” she said. “I feel more toned.”

But it remains to be seen whether such effects will make a difference over time. In a July

2008 study of instability boards and balls, Canadian researchers found that among

experienced exercisers, moderate instability balls like the Bosu had little effect on muscle

activation.

The shoes are designed only for walking, and because of the instability design, wearers are

discouraged from running, jumping and engaging in other athletic activities while wearing

them. So the real effect may come from simple awareness that they are wearing a

muscle-activating shoe, causing them to walk more briskly and with purpose.

“I think buying them with this in mind is likely to increase mindfulness, which is good for

health,” said Ellen J. Langer, a Harvard psychologist who has studied the connections

between mindfulness, exercise and health. “It will probably result in even more walking,

with the implicit and explicit virtues endemic to exercise.”

Windows 7 Complaints Begin

Users of the new operating system say the upgrading process is buggy. But once the kinks are

worked out, customers are liking Windows 7 a lot more than Vista

Microsoft launched Windows 7 in late October to much fanfare. But, just like with previous

Windows upgrades, complaints about bugs have already started rolling in.

A whopping 31% of clients have reported problems with upgrading to Windows 7, according to a

recent survey of more than 100,000 customers conducted by consumer helpdesk firm.

"Most of the problems that customers have with Windows 7 have to do with installation, or

application and data migration," said Vishal Dhar, co-founder of iYogi. "These are all

fixable problems, but they're annoyances and they're time consuming."

One common gripe, experienced by 9% of installers, is that the half-hour to an hour-long

upgrade process gets to the "62% completed" point and then freezes. It's a problem that

Microsoft is aware of, and can be fixed by rebooting the computer, going into advanced

settings, and typing in a code that instructs the computer to ignore plug-ins.

However, issues didn't stop with the upgrade process. Many users still experienced glitches

even after successfully installing Windows 7 on their machines.

Most common among those complaints was that basic "applet" programs, like Mail, Movie Maker

and Photo Gallery, were missing. That's because Windows 7 deletes those programs and makes

users download them from the Windows Live Essential Web site. IYogi said 26% of their

customers were confused about that extra step.

Others had problems getting their computers to work properly: Eight percent said their DVD

drives couldn't be found and 2% couldn't sync their iPhones with Windows 7.

One in seven users also complained that the sleek new "Aero" theme doesn't work. The Aero

theme enables users to see through a window to view the desktop or other programs that are

open behind it. According to iYogi, most of the 14% of users that have problems with Aero

don't have the graphics capabilities on their PCs to handle the program.

Other common complaints included an inability to view file extensions, too many "mini-dumps"

(memory images saved on the computer when it crashes), problems with the "Aero snap"

feature, changes to custom icons and problems with the new taskbar.

Microsoft (MSFT), which debuted Windows 7 on Oct. 22, did not return requests for comment.

Smoother sailing once it's debugged. Once the bugs from upgrading have been worked out,

users have had a relatively hassle-free experience. And those who bought a new computer with

Windows 7 preloaded have seen the fewest issues.

"Customers who finally get it up and running love Windows 7," said Dhar. "We haven't had a

lot of people calling for usability issues, because it's a much more intuitive interface

than Windows XP."

That's not to say that Windows 7 is perfect.

According to Zeus Kerravala, an analyst at Yankee Group, one of the biggest annoyances with

the new operating system is that the "ribbon menus" at the top of programs have been

redesigned and must be relearned. In previous Windows versions, the menus remained very

consistent (File, Edit, View, Insert, etc.), but in Windows 7, they can be wildly different

from application to application.

"It took me a long while to figure out how to print," said Kerravala. "Microsoft tried to

improve the user interface, but there's a learning curve because it's inconsistent."

Microsoft also did away with many favorite applications like Windows Movie Maker, which is

particularly surprising given the propensity of cell phone videos and Flip video camera

movies.

But all of the gripes about Windows 7 pale in comparison to the angry complaints about

Microsoft's previous Windows iteration, Windows Vista. That version was an outright disaster

after it was released in 2007. Vista was plagued by bugs, software incompatibilities,

sluggishness and annoying security alerts. The episode nearly destroyed the tech giant's

reputation with consumers.

"While there are a few bugs, I haven't seen or heard of any show-stoppers," said Laura

DiDio, principal analyst at ITIC. "In fact, just the opposite. Some Vista users can't wait

to upgrade. So far, this has been a home run for Microsoft."

The 7 foods experts won't eat

How healthy (or not) certain foods are—for us, for the environment—is a hotly debated topic

among experts and consumers alike, and there are no easy answers. But when Prevention talked

to the people at the forefront of food safety and asked them one simple question—“What foods

do you avoid?”—we got some pretty interesting answers. Although these foods don’t

necessarily make up a "banned” list, as you head into the holidays—and all the grocery

shopping that comes with it—their answers are, well, food for thought:

20 ways to feed your family for $100 a week.

1. Canned Tomatoes

The expert: Fredrick vom Saal, PhD, an endocrinologist at the University of Missouri who

studies bisphenol-A

The problem: The resin linings of tin cans contain bisphenol-A, a synthetic estrogen that

has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes,

and obesity. Unfortunately, acidity (a prominent characteristic of tomatoes) causes BPA to

leach into your food. Studies show that the BPA in most people's body exceeds the amount

that suppresses sperm production or causes chromosomal damage to the eggs of animals. "You

can get 50 mcg of BPA per liter out of a tomato can, and that's a level that is going to

impact people, particularly the young," says vom Saal. "I won't go near canned tomatoes."

The solution: Choose tomatoes in glass bottles (which do not need resin linings), such as

the brands Bionaturae and Coluccio. You can also get several types in Tetra Pak boxes, like

Trader Joe's and Pomi.

14 worst health mistakes even smart women make.

2. Corn-Fed Beef

The expert: Joel Salatin, co-owner of Polyface Farms and author of half a dozen books on

sustainable farming

The problem: Cattle evolved to eat grass, not grains. But farmers today feed their animals

corn and soybeans, which fatten up the animals faster for slaughter. More money for cattle

farmers (and lower prices at the grocery store) means a lot less nutrition for us. A recent

comprehensive study conducted by the USDA and researchers from Clemson University found that

compared with corn-fed beef, grass-fed beef is higher in beta-carotene, vitamin E, omega-3s,

conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), calcium, magnesium, and potassium; lower in inflammatory

omega-6s; and lower in saturated fats that have been linked to heart disease. "We need to

respect the fact that cows are herbivores, and that does not mean feeding them corn and

chicken manure," says Salatin.

The solution: Buy grass-fed beef, which can be found at specialty grocers, farmers' markets,

and nationally at Whole Foods. It's usually labeled because it demands a premium, but if you

don't see it, ask your butcher.

25 ridiculously healthy foods you should be eating now.

3. Microwave Popcorn

The expert: Olga Naidenko, PhD, a senior scientist for the Environmental Working Group,

The problem: Chemicals, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), in the lining of the bag,

are part of a class of compounds that may be linked to infertility in humans, according to a

recent study from UCLA. In animal testing, the chemicals cause liver, testicular, and

pancreatic cancer. Studies show that microwaving causes the chemicals to vaporize—and

migrate into your popcorn. "They stay in your body for years and accumulate there," says

Naidenko, which is why researchers worry that levels in humans could approach the amounts

causing cancers in laboratory animals. DuPont and other manufacturers have promised to phase

out PFOA by 2015 under a voluntary EPA plan, but millions of bags of popcorn will be sold

between now and then.

The solution: Pop natural kernels the old-fashioned way: in a skillet. For flavorings, you

can add real butter or dried seasonings, such as dillweed, vegetable flakes, or soup mix.

Your nutritional guide to grocery shopping.

4. Nonorganic Potatoes

The expert: Jeffrey Moyer, chair of the National Organic Standards Board

The problem: Root vegetables absorb herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides that wind up in

soil. In the case of potatoes—the nation's most popular vegetable—they're treated with

fungicides during the growing season, then sprayed with herbicides to kill off the fibrous

vines before harvesting. After they're dug up, the potatoes are treated yet again to prevent

them from sprouting. "Try this experiment: Buy a conventional potato in a store, and try to

get it to sprout. It won't," says Moyer, who is also farm director of the Rodale Institute

(also owned by Rodale Inc., the publisher of Prevention). "I've talked with potato growers

who say point-blank they would never eat the potatoes they sell. They have separate plots

where they grow potatoes for themselves without all the chemicals."

The solution: Buy organic potatoes. Washing isn't good enough if you're trying to remove

chemicals that have been absorbed into the flesh.

14 ways to make veggies less boring.

5. Farmed Salmon

The expert: David Carpenter, MD, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at

the University at Albany and publisher of a major study in the journal Science on

contamination in fish.

The problem: Nature didn't intend for salmon to be crammed into pens and fed soy, poultry

litter, and hydrolyzed chicken feathers. As a result, farmed salmon is lower in vitamin D

and higher in contaminants, including carcinogens, PCBs, brominated flame retardants, and

pesticides such as dioxin and DDT. According to Carpenter, the most contaminated fish come

from Northern Europe, which can be found on American menus. "You can only safely eat one of

these salmon dinners every 5 months without increasing your risk of cancer," says Carpenter,

whose 2004 fish contamination study got broad media attention. "It's that bad." Preliminary

science has also linked DDT to diabetes and obesity, but some nutritionists believe the

benefits of omega-3s outweigh the risks. There is also concern about the high level of

antibiotics and pesticides used to treat these fish. When you eat farmed salmon, you get

dosed with the same drugs and chemicals.

The solution: Switch to wild-caught Alaska salmon. If the package says fresh Atlantic, it's

farmed. There are no commercial fisheries left for wild Atlantic salmon.
Delicious and easy fish recipes

6. Milk Produced with Artificial Hormones

The expert: Rick North, project director of the Campaign for Safe Food at the Oregon

Physicians for Social Responsibility and former CEO of the Oregon division of the American

Cancer Society

The problem: Milk producers treat their dairy cattle with recombinant bovine growth hormone

(rBGH or rBST, as it is also known) to boost milk production. But rBGH also increases udder

infections and even pus in the milk. It also leads to higher levels of a hormone called

insulin-like growth factor in milk. In people, high levels of IGF-1 may contribute to

breast, prostate, and colon cancers. "When the government approved rBGH, it was thought that

IGF-1 from milk would be broken down in the human digestive tract," says North. As it turns

out, the casein in milk protects most of it, according to several independent studies.

"There's not 100% proof that this is increasing cancer in humans," admits North. "However,

it's banned in most industrialized countries."

The solution: Check labels for rBGH-free, rBST-free, produced without artificial hormones,

or organic milk. These phrases indicate rBGH-free products.
Don’t be fooled by these 11 health food imposters.

7. Conventional Apples

The expert: Mark Kastel, former executive for agribusiness and codirector of the Cornucopia

Institute, a farm-policy research group that supports organic foods

The problem: If fall fruits held a "most doused in pesticides contest," apples would win.

Why? They are individually grafted (descended from a single tree) so that each variety

maintains its distinctive flavor. As such, apples don't develop resistance to pests and are

sprayed frequently. The industry maintains that these residues are not harmful. But Kastel

counters that it's just common sense to minimize exposure by avoiding the most doused

produce, like apples. "Farm workers have higher rates of many cancers," he says. And

increasing numbers of studies are starting to link a higher body burden of pesticides (from

all sources) with Parkinson's disease.

The solution: Buy organic apples. If you can't afford organic, be sure to wash and peel them

first.

8 Signs You Might Be Boring Someone

A recent Psychology Today article by Gretchen Rubin provides a list of clues that you might

be boring someone during a conversation. I’ve certainly been trapped in conversations with

people who didn’t understand how to pick up on subtle clues that their long narrative about

a weird dream they had or a particularly awesome golf game they played were boring the heck

out of me — and just the same, I’m sure I’ve been oblivious to those signs in others, as

well. Have you been on the giving or receiving end of any of these signs?

From PsychologyToday:

1. Repeated, perfunctory responses.
A person who repeats, “Oh really? Wow. Oh really? Interesting.” isn’t particularly

engaged.

2. Simple questions. People who are bored ask simple questions.
“When did you move?” “Where did you go?” People who are interested ask more complicated

questions that show curiosity, not mere politeness.

3. Interruption. Although it sounds rude, interruption is actually a good sign, I think.

It means a person is bursting to say something, and that shows interest. Similarly…

4. Request for clarification. A person who is sincerely interested in what you’re saying

will ask you to elaborate or to explain. “What does that term mean?” “When exactly did that

happen?” “Then what did he say?” are the kinds of questions that show that someone is trying

closely to follow what you’re saying.

5. Imbalance of talking time. I suspect that many people fondly suppose that they

usually do eighty percent of the talking because people find them fascinating. Sometimes,

it’s true, a discussion involves a huge download of information desired by the listener;

that’s a very satisfying kind of conversation. In general, though, people who are interested

in a subject have things to say themselves; they want to add their own opinions,

information, and experiences. If they aren’t doing that, they’re probably keeping quiet in

the hopes that the conversation will end faster. Or maybe you just aren’t letting them get a

word in — recently I was talking to someone who, though fascinating, didn’t want to let me

contribute to the conversation. I enjoyed it, but not as much as if I’d been able to talk,

too.

6. Abrupt changes in topic. If you’re talking to someone about, say, the life of Winston

Churchill (I have a tendency to dwell at length on this particular subject), and all of a

sudden the other person says, “So how are your kids?”, it’s a sign that he or she isn’t very

interested or perhaps not listening at all. When someone makes this kind of switch, I have

to fight the urge not to drag the topic back to what I want to talk about – but the fact

that someone has introduced a completely different subject is a sure sign that the subject

is not engaging.

7. Body position. People with a good connection generally turn to face each other. A

person who is partially turned away isn’t fully embracing the conversation. Along the same

lines, if you’re a speaker trying to figure out if an audience is interested in what you’re

saying:

8. Audience posture. Back in 1885, Sir Francis Galton wrote a paper called “The

Measurement of Fidget.” He determined that people slouch and lean when bored, so a speaker

can measure the boredom of an audience by seeing how far from vertically upright they are.

Also, attentive people fidget less; bored people fidget more. An audience that’s sitting

still and upright is interested, while an audience that’s horizontal and squirmy is bored.

The article goes on to list a number of topics which are almost universally boring — so if

you find yourself delving into one of these, be sure and gauge your listener for any of the

above signs of disengagement!

1. A dream.
2. The recent changes in your child’s nap schedule.
3. The route you took to get here.
4. An excellent meal you once had at a restaurant.
5. The latest additions to your wine cellar.
6. An account of your last golf game.
7. The plot of a play, or movie—in particular, the funny parts.

Learn more about Gretchen Rubin's adventures learning to be happier on her blog, The

Happiness Project.

WWII veteran had Hitler's art book on bookshelf

After fighting his way across Europe during World War II, John Pistone was among the U.S.

soldiers who entered Adolf Hitler's home nestled in the Bavarian Alps as the war came to a

close.

Making his way through the Berghof, Hitler's home near Berchtesgaden, Germany, Pistone

noticed a table with shelves underneath. Exhilarated by the certainty of victory over the

Nazis, Pistone took an album filled with photographs of paintings as a souvenir.

"It was really a great feeling to be there and we knew, by that time, he was on his last

leg," Pistone told The Associated Press.

Sixty-four years after Pistone brought the album home to Ohio, the 87-year-old has learned

its full significance: It's part of a series compiled for Hitler featuring art he wanted for

his "Fuhrermuseum," a planned museum in Linz, Austria, Hitler's hometown.

Pistone's album is expected to be formally returned to Germany in a ceremony at the U.S.

State Department in January. Germany has 19 other albums discovered at the Berchtesgaden

complex that are part of a 31-album collection of works either destined for or being

considered for the Linz museum.

Pistone's 3-inch thick, 12-pound album's journey from obscurity began this fall when a

friend became curious about the book sitting on Pistone's bookshelf.

The friend discovered after some Internet searching that the Dallas-based Monuments Men

Foundation for the Preservation of Art was involved in 2007 in the restitution of two other

albums that were part of a series documenting art stolen by the Nazis from Jewish families.

Its founder, Robert Edsel, who while living in Italy for a time after selling his oil and

gas business became interested in what was done to protect art in World War II, traveled to

Ohio this fall to examine Pistone's album. Seeing it convinced him that Pistone had one of

the missing albums of the series on the planned museum.

Stamped on the album's spine is "Gemaldegalerie Linz" — Gemaldegalerie means picture gallery

in German — and the Roman numerals for 13. It still has a sticker from the book's binder in

Dresden.

Birgit Schwarz, a German art historian from Vienna who has written books about Hitler and

art, including a book called "Hitler's Museum" describing the albums in the series, is

convinced the album is authentic. She said she recognized paintings in the album along with

the volume number and title.

"It's absolutely clear!" she wrote in an enthusiastic e-mail to the AP after reviewing

scanned photographs of the album. "Hans Makart's 'Pest in Florenz' (Plague in Florence), for

example, the first picture of album XIII, Hitler got as a gift from Mussolini!"

Souvenir hunting was routine by soldiers during the war, and problems arise when people try

to sell rather than return culturally important items, said Thomas R. Kline, a

Washington-based lawyer who specializes in art restitution and works for the foundation.

"It's really important that as people go through their attics and they find the things that

grandpa brought home, people are aware that something as simple as a book of pictures could

have a cultural significance," Kline said.

Ambassador J. Christian Kennedy, special envoy for Holocaust issues at the State Department,

said the agency is happy to help return objects taken during the war. "This is all about

doing the right thing," Kennedy said.

Edsel started his foundation in 2007 to honor and continue the work of the original

Monuments Men, the roughly 345 men and women from 13 nations who helped Allied forces

protect cultural treasures during World War II. After the war, they began trying to find the

rightful owners of pieces of art looted by the Nazis, hundreds of thousands of which are

still missing.

"It's my desire to see the works of the Monuments Men completed," said Edsel, who wrote two

books detailing the group's work.

The discovery of albums could help. In Pistone's case, experts had the names of artwork

featured in his album but the photographs could help match them to the correct piece of art,

Edsel said.

"They are key documents from the crime scene," he said of the albums.

He said the art Hitler wanted for his museum was bought, stolen or confiscated. The 13th

album contains works by some of Hitler's favorite German painters, including a photo of

Adolf von Menzel's painting of Frederick the Great that hung in Hitler's office in Munich.

Edsel said his office gets about a call a day from someone curious about an item brought

home after the war.

"We're looking for people with goodwill who don't know what they have," Edsel said.

Pistone, album in hand, returned home after surviving the battlefields in Europe. He

finished college, got into the restaurant business and had five children. The album mostly

stayed up on a shelf at his home in Beachwood, Ohio, but he'd occasionally take it down and

let family members look through it.

Once he met Edsel and learned about the Monuments Men, he knew it should be returned to

Germany. "I just wanted to get it in the right hands," he said.

Before the book makes the trip overseas, it and one of two other albums the foundation

helped discover will go on display for about three months at the National World War II

Museum in New Orleans following the State Department ceremony, Edsel said.

Edsel said that of the two albums from 2007, one has already been donated to the U.S.

National Archives to join the other albums in that series used as evidence of Nazi looting

in the Nuremberg trials. He said that the second will go to the National Archives in the

next three years.

"When soldiers and their families realize what they have and come forward to return it,

there's never an issue. It's a happy moment and there's celebrations of one kind of

another," Kline said. "We owe a huge debt to this generation that saved the world from

Naziism."

Swine flu damage reaches deep into lungs: Study

Swine flu damages the entire airway, from the trachea to deep in the lungs, just as the

viruses that caused the deadly 1918 and 1957 influenza pandemics did, but unlike seasonal

flu, a report has said.

Scientists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and New York City's chief medical

examiner's office examined microscope slides of tissue from 34 people who died of pandemic

swine flu earlier this year.

They found "a spectrum of damage in both the upper and lower respiratory tracts," Jeffery

Taubenberger, one of the researchers on the study, said yesterday.

In all cases, the upper respiratory tract -- the trachea and bronchial tubes -- were

inflamed and sometimes severely damaged.

In 18 cases, or more than half, damage was seen lower down, in the finer branches of the

bronchial tubes, and in 25 cases, or nearly three-quarters of the study sample, the

researchers found damage to the small globular air sacs, or alveoli, of the lungs.

"This pattern of pathology in the airway tissues is similar to that reported in victims of

both the 1918 and 1957 influenza pandemics," said Taubenberger, a virus specialist at the

National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

But it differed from seasonal flu, which "causes most damage in the trachea and the

bronchial tree, not deep in the lungs," Taubenberger said.

IT industry, N-plants high on terrorists' list: Home Secy

India's globally acclaimed software industry is high on the terrorists' target list and

sensitive installations like atomic plants and refineries located on the coastline are

vulnerable to terror attacks, Union Home Secretary G K Pillai said on Wednesday.

"We are world leaders in software. But software industry is high on the threat list," Pillai

said addressing a conference on 'Challenge of Terrorism to India's Infrastructure and

Economy' in New Delhi.

The Home Secretary said all software companies in India were now realising this fact and

they were taking their own measures to protect themselves.

"And the government is also in partnership with many of the companies making effort to

provide adequate security (to foil any attempt by the terrorists to target them)," he said.

Indian software exports have risen from Rs 28,350 crore in 2000-01 to an estimated Rs

216,300 crore in 2008-09.

The industry is expected to grow 16 per cent this fiscal and log revenues of USD 60 billion

despite the global slowdown.

Pillai said India's western coastline hosting several petroleum and nuclear installations

are vulnerable to terror strikes from the sea route.

"Petroleum and nuclear installations located on the western coast are highly vulnerable," he

said.

Is it a good time to buy your dream house?

Everyone dreams of owning a home, a place which is your own and where you can be yourself.

Are you wondering whether this is the right time to buy your home? We get you some answers

on this here. Read on to find out more.

There are mixed views regarding the real estate sector. While some reports indicate an

increase in volumes and prices, some indicate a situation where the supply has far

outstripped the demand. As per a leading business daily, nearly 40 percent of the affordable

housing projects are left unsold.

Recap

FY09 proved to be a tough one for real estate sector with conditions not being conducive for

both buyers and sellers. Lower demand due to slowdown in the economy and deferment of

purchase plans by customers led to pricing pressures. Prices had declined in the range of 30

to 50% during FY09. This coupled with higher interest rates and lower disbursement of loans

by banks due to rising delinquencies further increased the problems. As we all know, the

real estate sector is sensitive to movements in interest rates. The demand is higher when

the interest rates are lower as the EMIs will be lower and vice-versa.

Recent scenario

An upside cycle, but not really at the crest itself. Until recently, the market observers

felt that the sector was a sinking ship but thanks to the support by the RBI, the housing

sector in India is experiencing an increase in demand (though not at its peak), as seen in

the last couple of quarters.

In fact, SBI, the largest player in the Indian banking space, has decided to extend its 8

percent home loan scheme till March 31, 2010, just a day before it was due to expire. Other

players in the space, particularly public sector players have followed suit with their own

share of attractive loan schemes.

Even private banks are focusing on the housing loan space due to low credit off take by

corporates. The developer is also targeting the housing sector with strong focus on

affordable segment as well as a gradual shift to ensure delivery and promotion of previously

launched projects at more attractive prices.

According to some developers, the buyers are back! The disbursal of home loans for new

registrations has seen a 20% surge this quarter against the previous quarter. According to

an IIFL report, in Mumbai, prices are up 25%-40% from the bottom in early 2009, while in

NCR, the corresponding figure is 15-20%.

As far as the pricing of property is concerned, sellers (builders) have a key role to play

here. During the downturn, property rates fell to the tune of 30-50% depending on the area

on account of twin factors - fall in demand and need for cash by builders. With the balance

sheet of real estate companies becoming stronger on account of restructuring, and money

increasingly becoming available through QIPs and even bank loans, builders will resist fall

in property rates.

In fact, in several areas, rates are inching upwards. For eg: In Mumbai, vacancy levels have

fallen to about 12% from 14% in 2QCY09, even though supply has shown a spurt. This has

reduced the overall available stock in the city. The rentals have become stable. If demand

continues, then we expect rentals to strengthen going forward.

India's GDP grew by an impressive 7.9% in the September quarter, the fastest in the last

one-and-a-half years. The economic activities like construction (6.5% YoY), real estate and

business services (each 7.7% YoY) also reported strong growth numbers during the 2QFY10.

This gives an indication of some pick up happening in across sectors.

Though the demand from commercial space is still cautious, the rentals of retail space have

stabilised in most of the country. As per Cushman & Wakefield retail report, mall vacancy

has shown a marginal increase from 17.3% in the second quarter (April to June) to 17.5% in

the third quarter (July to September). Further, as per the report, the retail sector is

expected to see a demand of around 43 mn sq ft, mostly concentrated in the tier I and II

cities. The demand for the hospitality sector is expected to be around 690,000 room nights

between 2009-2013. Also with IT sector seeing an improvement in the coming quarters, the

demand is expected to inch higher.

On the interest rate: With recession woes looking to end and strong growth witnessed across

sectors, the chances of the RBI raising interest rates in the future are higher. In fact a

whiff of something likely to happen on this front is already becoming apparent and perhaps

will kick in around March-April 2010. Further, with higher liquidity and poor monsoons,

inflation concerns are evident. So everything indicates that the interest rates could only

go up from here.

What should one do?

While this may sound as an apt opportunity for buyers to capitalise on the prevailing low

rates of interest by striking a deal, several considerations need to be made with regards to

money.

Being a long term investment, one must definitely check if he/she can afford the long term

loan repayments. Also, consideration to a stable job, provision for contingencies and

personal finances should be looked into before buying the dream house.

If one buys a 500 sq.ft flat in Navi Mumbai at a cost of Rs 3500 per sq ft, the total cost

would be Rs 1750, 000. At an 8.5% interest for 15 years, the interest rate would be Rs.

13,51,940. If the prices go up to Rs 5500, the cost jumps by 57% to Rs 27,50,000.

Thereby one pays the interest of 21,24,400. So if one has the fund resources to tap into and

feel they can avail the attractive interest rates at this point in time, then by all means

they should go for their dream home now, putting it off for later could mean parting with

more money.

US Air Force confirms 'Beast of Kandahar' drone

The US Air Force on Tuesday confirmed for the first time that it is flying a stealth unmanned aircraft known as the "Beast of Kandahar," a drone spotted in photos and shrouded in secrecy.

The RQ-170 Sentinel is being developed by Lockheed Martin and is designed "to provide reconnaissance and surveillance support to forward deployed combat forces," the air force said in a brief statement.

The "RQ" prefix for the aircraft indicates an unarmed drone, unlike the "MQ" designation used for Predator and Reaper aircraft equipped with missiles and precision-guided bombs.

Aviation experts dubbed the drone the "Beast of Kandahar" after photographs emerged earlier this year showing the mysterious aircraft in southern Afghanistan in 2007.

The image suggested a drone with a radar-evading stealth-like design, resembling a smaller version of a B-2 bomber.

A blog in the French newspaper Liberation published another photo this week, feeding speculation among aviation watchers about the classified drone.

The air force said the aircraft came out of Lockheed Martin's "Skunk Works," also known as Advanced Development Programs, in California -- the home of sophisticated and often secret defense projects including the U-2 spy plane, the F-22 fighter jet and the F-117 Nighthawk.

The photo of the drone in Afghanistan has raised questions about why the United States would be operating a stealth unmanned aircraft in a country where insurgents have no radar systems, prompting speculation Washington was using the drones for possible spying missions in neighboring Iran or Pakistan.

The Sentinel was believed to have a flying wing design with no tail and with sensors built into the top side of each wing, according to published photos.

The RQ-170 is in line with Defense Secretary Robert Gates' request for more intelligence and surveillance resources and with the Air Force chief of staff's plans to expand the fleet of unmanned aircraft, the air force said.

The new drone is flown by the 30th Reconnaissance Squadron out of Tonopah Test Range in Nevada, which is under Air Combat Command's 432nd Wing at Creech Air Base, also in Nevada.

The United States has carried out an extensive bombing campaign against Al-Qaeda figures in Pakistan using the Predator and larger Reaper drones.

Robots or "unmanned systems" in the air and on the ground are now deployed by the thousands in Iraq and Afghanistan, spying from the sky for hours on end, searching for booby-traps and firing lethal missiles without putting US soldiers at risk.

I want to change the way politics works in UP: Rahul

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday that he wants to change the way politics works in Uttar Pradesh.

Speaking to the media a day after UP's Mayawati government had not given permission for his press conference, Rahul Gandhi said that the politics in the state has stuck in the past. He said that he wanted to change this situation and make it more forward looking.

Rahul said that his goal was not 2012 UP elections but much beyond. Rahul Gandhi also said that the youth in the state have given good response to his call to join the movement to promote democracy and improve the way politics is practiced in the country.

Rahul Gandhi refused to comment on the Liberhan panel report. However, he said that he respected veteran BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee as a senior politician.

MPs suffer from Monday blues

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar had to suspend the Question Hour on November 30 when as many as 34 MPs were found to be absent when she called their names during Question Hour. It has now emerged that a record number of 216 MPs did not show up in the House on that particular day which was a Monday.

Most of the absentee MPs on November 30 argued "that they had not expected more than six or seven questions to be taken up during Question Hour, a reason they kept away from the proceedings". The Lok Sabha MPs' attendance record, however, shows that their attendance is generally low on Mondays, while it improves as the week progresses.

The only other Monday in the current session so far (November 23) which began on November 19 saw as many as 188 MPs, the session's third highest, being absent.

The MPs' attendance, now available online, shows that in the ongoing session, on December 3, 159 Lok Sabha MPs didn't sign the register (in other words, were absent) while 332 were present; on December 2, the corresponding figures were 169 and 322; on

December 1, 161 and 330; on November 30, 216 and 275; on November 26, 132 and 359; on November 25, 121 and 370; on November 24, 137 and 354; on November 23, 188 and 303; on November 20, 192 and 299; and on November 19, 175 and 316. Union ministers, Leaders of House, Leader of Opposition and Deputy Speaker do not sign the attendance register, so the numbers do not add up to 545.

If the average MPs' attendance in the House leaves much to be desired, there are, however, MPs who have a 100 per pent attendance in the House - in the ongoing as well as previous session. As many as 88 MPs, including Milind Deora, Sandeep Dikshit, Nirmal Khatri (all Congress); Shahnawaz Hussein, Anant Kumar Hegde, Yashodhara Raje Scindia (all BJP); Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lallan (JD-U); Jayant Chaudhary (RLD); and M B Rajesh (CPM), have reported 100 per cent attendance in the current session. In the previous Budget session (of the 15th Lok Sabha), there were 72 MPs who were present on all 26 days.

Vijaya Shanthi (TRS), Jaya Prada (SP), Anjan Kumar Yadav (Congress), Ravindra Kumar Pandey (BJP) and Kirti Azad (BJP), on the other hand, are among those having the poorest attendance record in the ongoing session. They have been present for just one day, while being absent on nine days, according to the records updated till December 3.

Dining Out: Top 5 restaurants in India

The Miele Guide to Asia's finest restaurants is written by food experts who know and love the region (www.mieleguide.com).

This is a list of the top 5 restaurants in India, where the cuisine is as varied and rich as the nation's history. It is not endorsed by Reuters.

1. Bukhara, New Delhi

Bukhara is, without a doubt, the most famous restaurant in India, and it has been visited by an untold number of celebrities and heads of state. Until recently, London-based Restaurant magazine considered it Asia's very best restaurant. Set up in 1977, the restaurant serves food from the North West Frontier province, a region known for its rugged terrain and simple but delicious cuisine. The food is mostly grilled and cooked with minimal spices. You are expected to eat with your fingers, though you can always ask for cutlery, and the restaurant will provide you with a lovely red-and-white apron to ensure that you don't mess up your clothes. Die-hard Bukhara fans return time and again for the Bukhara dahl, lentils cooked lovingly with tomatoes, spices and butter, and sikandari raan, a whole leg of baby lamb that has been marinated for hours with spices such as cumin and cinnamon before being grilled in the tandoor to perfection.

ITC Maurya, New Delhi Diplomatic Enclave

Sardar Patel Marg

New Delhi

mwww.itcwelcomgroup.in/itcmaurya/

2. Indigo, Mumbai

A host of international celebrities, including Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, have walked through the doors of Indigo, making it one of the hottest restaurants in the city. Housed in a lovely colonial bungalow, the restaurant and bar are as chic as its clientele, and the food is excellent. Owned by renowned restaurateur-chef Rahul Akerkar, Indigo serves creative modern European cuisine infused with Indian influences. Dishes to try include the celebrated lobster risotto with black olive tapenade, fenugreek-spiced tuna loin with shiraz and clove reduction, and the juniper berry-cured tandoori chicken with burnt garlic oyster sauce. Dinner reservations are essential.

4 Mandlik Road, Colaba

Mumbai

www.foodindigo.com

3. Thai Pavilion, Mumbai

Its quietly plush and soothing decor topped by consistently impeccable service and food are all part of Thai Pavilion's draw. What this restaurant excels in are the staples like phad Thai, tom yum soup, raw papaya salad, and steamed fish. The pla rad prik (fish in chilli) is also a winner. Besides its list of classic Thai dishes, there is also a wide selection of vegetarian options to choose from. Reservations are recommended if you're angling for a table, but not necessary for the bar counter area.

Taj President Hotel

90 Cuffe Parade

mwww.tajhotels.com

4. Oh! Calcutta, Mumbai

With branches in Kolkata, New Delhi, Pune and Bangalore, Oh! Calcutta is all about reintroducing the nostalgic cuisine of Kolkata to diners. The Mumbai outlet is easy to spot, with an iconic hand-pulled rickshaw displayed outside the restaurant. Fresh seafood from Cochin and Mumbai, as well as river fish and crustaceans from Kolkata, are the main highlight here. Zoom in on the hilsa marinated in a robust mustard and green chilli paste then steamed in a banana leaf. Other stellar offerings include spiced crab cakes steamed in banana leaf, the coconut-based prawn malai curry, or any of the fried fish dishes.

Hotel Rosewood

Tulsiwadi Lane, Tardeo

mwww.speciality.co.in/calcutta.php

5. Swagath, New Delhi

Its decor and ambience are unremarkable, but Swagath dishes up some of the best seafood in the city. It's certainly worth braving the grungy Defence Colony Market area for a taste of its speciality squid in butter pepper garlic or fish marinated in Mangalorian spices and cooked in a tamarind chilli paste. The tender pesawari barrah kebabs (tandoor lamb chops), spicy South Indian Chettinad curries and deep fried pomfret are good too. There is a Chinese menu as well, with chicken, lamb, seafood and vegetable dishes, as well as fried rice and noodles. But it's the Indian cuisine you'll want to wait in line for.

Despite downturn, more Indians are wealthier now

Despite the worst recession since World War II, affluent Indians have not only managed to survive but in fact grew wealthier than before.

More affluent Indians along with other Asians say they are wealthier now compared to six months ago. According to HSBC Affluent Asian Tracker survey, savvy wealthy Indian investors came through the financial turmoil at the end of 2009 relatively unscathed.

Leading Asia's affluent are 70% of mainland Chinese respondents who reported a rise in net worth compared to only 46% six months ago. Similarly, across Asia, the number of affluent respondents reporting an increase in wealth in the past six months nearly doubled. In India, 68 % have reported higher accumulation of wealth compared to 28% six months ago. In Taiwan 61% reported a similar trend against 33% six months ago. In Malaysia, 55% have seen their wealth multiplying in last six months.

Majority of respondents claimed they gained their wealth through their employment comprising 89% in mainland China, Malaysia, Singapore and Japan, 88 % in Indonesia, 87% in Australia, 84% in Taiwan and 79% in India.

Sandy Flockhart, chief executive officer of HSBC Asia-Pacific, who has been appointed as chairman (personal & commercial banking) effective February 2010, said, "Asia's workforce is powering the region's affluent who are fast becoming savvy about growing and managing their newly-created wealth. Riding on Asia's recovery and improved market sentiment, the affluent in the region, most particularly in mainland China, are regaining their confidence as investors and are providing momentum towards a more robust wealth management market in Asia." The number of affluent Asians reporting a decline in net worth over the past six months decreased significantly compared to six months ago.

On planned changes in investment risk appetite over the next six months, the survey showed that 31% of affluent mainland Chinese are willing to accept greater risk followed by 30% in India and 28% in Malaysia.

Facebook, Twitter may swap revenues of job portals

Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin are likely to eat into the revenues of job portals like Naukri.com and Monster India, as more and more recruiters are using them to lure prospective candidates.

With India Inc lifting recruitment freezes, social networking sites are becoming popular channels to reach fresh staff base specifically for the knowledge sector, a research analyst with Gartner, Diptarup Chakraborti said. "These sites will give competition to job portals. Many companies are using them to advertise positions," Chakraborti told FE.

BPO company 24/7 Customer said since June 2009, positions from all its centres are also advertised on Facebook and Twitter. "The response has been very good. We get good conversions from these sources- we rate the conversions at four, on a scale of five," said Vinod Mudakkayil, VP recruitment with 24/7.

Raffle winner sells $1.2 million home at a bargain

A Colorado woman who won a $1.2 million home in Edgewater in a $50-a-ticket raffle in January has sold the property to a Severna Park church at a bargain-basement price.

"Hooray, finally!" said Karen McHale, 47, who lives in a home she built with her husband in the mountains west of Denver and never intended to move to the mid-Atlantic. "I tell you, that was a giant rock around my neck."

McHale said she bought two raffle tickets last year as a contribution to an Annapolis-based charity that was co-sponsoring the contest. The raffle venture came about when a mortgage broker teamed up with We Care and Friends, which helps at-risk youths, to sell his home.

A week after one of those tickets was chosen as the winner, McHale lost her job as a chemical engineer. Eager to sell the home before Dec. 31 to avoid paying about $300,000 in 2009 income taxes, she put it on the market in March for $799,000.

When no one bit, McHale dropped the price to $749,000 in May. A dozen prospective buyers asked after the property; no one submitted an offer.

McHale's husband, who works in construction, spent a week at the house in June, painting its 40 interior doors, hooking up a dishwasher and doing other last touches.

Two buyers made offers in September; both deals fell through.

Meanwhile, the six-bedroom, 4 1/2 -bath windfall, despite sitting empty, was accompanied by a hefty monthly bill: $600 to $800 in utilities and homeowner's insurance.

McHale finally sealed a $650,000 deal last month with Unity By the Bay, a church that has outgrown its quarters in a Severna Park strip mall. The church paid $450,000 in cash, McHale said, and she made a tax-deductible contribution of the additional $200,000 to stem the flow of her winnings to the IRS.

"We are all just so grateful to Karen McHale for her donation. The congregation is ecstatic," said board member Carol Kerr. "We have wanted to have our own building, but everything seemed so out of reach, pricewise, that we just haven't been able to make it happen."
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All in all, McHale said, she will pocket about $200,000 after paying state and federal tax bills.

"It's amazing how fast you can spend it," McHale said, "but we're done now. We're back to normal."

A chunk of the profit went toward the mortgage on the McHale family's Colorado home. They also spent some of the money on a greenhouse to grow vegetables in a part of the country where winter lasts much of the year and a new Dodge truck to replace one that was falling apart.

One son, a budding chef, got a set of knives; another got help with his August wedding and honeymoon to Italy. At a recent lunch to celebrate the sale of the 6,000-square-foot Maryland home, McHale passed out $50 bills to a couple of dozen family members and friends.

Her original windfall was accompanied by enough stress and tax-code headaches that McHale said she's done gambling on faraway real estate.

"The Elks [Lodge] was raffling off a pig recently, and I bought tickets for that because I wanted the meat," she said, laughing. "But I'm not buying raffle tickets for any more homes in strange states."

Cozy-crazy couple makes tight all right in the city's tiniest studio

Read If they can make it there, they can make it anywhere.

Zaarath and Christopher Prokop -- and their two cats -- live in the smallest apartment in the city, a 175-square-foot "microstudio" in Morningside Heights the couple bought three months ago for $150,000.

At 14.9 feet long and 10 feet wide, it's about as narrow as a subway car and as claustrophobic as a jail cell. But to the Prokops, it's a castle.

"When you first see it, the first thing you say is, 'Holy crap, this place is small,' " said Zaarath, 37, an accountant for liquor company Remy Martin. "But when I saw it, all I could think of is, I can do something with this. This is perfect for us. We love it."
Zaarath and Christopher Prokop insist they're living the life in this micro studio, just 10 feet wide! The bathroom is even smaller, barely spanning three feet.
Angel Chevrestt
Zaarath and Christopher Prokop insist they're living the life in this micro studio, just 10 feet wide! The bathroom is even smaller, barely spanning three feet.



The co-op is on the 16th floor of a doorman building on 110th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue. But it's only accessible by a staircase on the 15th floor.

It has two small windows with views of upper Manhattan; hardwood floors; a tiny kitchen with a mini-fridge and hotplate; and a closet-sized bathroom with a shower, sink and toilet.

"I'm amazed we can fit two people and two cats in there," Zaarath said. "But it's harmonious at this point. I have friends who say they could never live with their husbands in a place this small. It's a good thing we like each other enough to live there."

The couple wakes up every morning in their queen-size bed, which takes up one-third of the living space.

They then walk five feet toward the tiny kitchen, where they pull out their workout clothes, which are folded neatly in two cabinets above the sink. A third cabinet holds several containers of espresso for their only kitchen appliance, a cappuccino maker.

They turn off their hotplate, and use the space on the counter as a feeding area for their cats, Esmeralda and Beauregard.

"We don't cook," Zaarath said, adding that their fridge never has any food in it. "So when you don't cook, you don't need plates or pots or pans. So we use that space for our clothes."

Once in their running attire, the two change the cat litter box (stored under the sink) and start their small Rumba vacuum -- which operates automatically while they're out, picking up cat hair.

They then jog to their jobs in Midtown, picking up along the way their work clothes, which are "strategically stashed at various dry cleaners."

Just in case the cleaners are closed, both have emergency clothes at their offices.

"I have a closet at my office," Zaarath said. "You don't want to be standing outside a closed cleaners at 8:45 in your workout pants thinking, 'Greeeeeat' . . . It's a great strategy. You always have fresh things to wear."

McDonald's sales take hit from US joblessness

The supersized recession that was a boon for business last year caught up further with McDonald's Corp. in November, as high unemployment ate into sales.

While the world's largest burger chain is still faring better than its competitors, who've increasingly been pushing value menus and discounts of their own, the restaurant's fortunes likely won't improve unless the U.S. economy does.

"I think ultimately, we'll need job growth to get things turned around to get back in the positive territory," said Morningstar restaurant analyst R.J. Hottovy.

On Tuesday, McDonald's said sales at restaurants open at least a year fell 0.6 percent in the U.S. It was the second consecutive monthly decline for the measure, an important indicator of a restaurant chain's health, and a steeper fall than October's 0.1 percent.

November's overseas results were better but still mixed, helped by a softening dollar that translated foreign revenue into more dollars. Around the globe, sales in locations open at least a year rose 0.7 percent.

Because of its size and its ability to trounce competitors with its increasingly popular dollar menu, McDonald's was one of the early beneficiaries of the recession as diners traded down from pricier restaurants. In fact, last November, sales in locations open a year climbed 4.5 percent in the U.S. and 7.7 globally.

But earlier this fall, McDonald's cautioned it wasn't immune to the recession, either, and in October, the U.S. figure fell 0.1 percent.

Tuesday's results were only the fourth U.S. decrease in 6 1/2 years.

The results come as McDonald's also faces increased competition from rivals trumpeting their own deeply discounted menus. Among them: Taco Bell's value menu that begins with items for 79 cents, and Wendy's $2.99 combos. Burger King has also heavily pushed a $1 double cheeseburger that it touts as being a bigger and better value than McDonald's $1 McDouble.

"It appears that after nearly six years of consistent gains, further increases in U.S. comps will be more labored," Standard & Poor's restaurant analyst Mark Basham said in a research note.

That's because until the U.S. unemployment rate -- which was 10 percent in November -- recovers significantly, McDonald's customers are less likely to visit the chain -- picking up coffee and a McMuffin for breakfast, or dashing in for a Big Mac for lunch with co-workers.

In Europe, sales in locations open at least a year rose 2.5 percent, thanks to stronger business in the U.K. and France. But the figures were still short of forecasts and were the second-worst figures from the continent this year, said Janney Capital Markets analyst Mark Kalinowski.

"McDonald's did not provide much in the way of explanation for the lower-than-anticipated European (figure), suggesting to us that the region may remain under a cloud of uncertainty," Kalinowski told investors in a research note.

Sales in locations open for at least a year in the Middle East, Africa and Asia/Pacific dropped 1 percent. Last year, the figure rose 13.2 percent in the region.

Meanwhile, systemwide sales -- a figured based on results at company owned restaurants as well as those operated by franchise owners -- climbed 10.1 percent. Adjusting for currency fluctuations, systemwide sales were up 2.3 percent.

The company, based in Oak Brook, Ill., runs more than 32,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries.

Its shares fell $1.32, or 2.1 percent, to close at $60.61 Tuesday.

AP Retail Writer Michelle Chapman contributed to this report from New York.

Scientists say paper battery could be in the works

Ordinary paper could one day be used as a lightweight battery to power the devices that are now enabling the printed word to be eclipsed by e-mail, e-books and online news.

Scientists at Stanford University in California reported on Monday they have successfully turned paper coated with ink made of silver and carbon nanomaterials into a "paper battery" that holds promise for new types of lightweight, high-performance energy storage.

The same feature that helps ink adhere to paper allows it to hold onto the single-walled carbon nanotubes and silver nanowire films. Earlier research found that silicon nanowires could be used to make batteries 10 times as powerful as lithium-ion batteries now used to power devices such as laplop computers.

"Taking advantage of the mature paper technology, low cost, light and high-performance energy-storage are realized by using conductive paper as current collectors and electrodes," the scientists said in research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

This type of battery could be useful in powering electric or hybrid vehicles, would make electronics lighter weight and longer lasting, and might even lead someday to paper electronics, the scientists said. Battery weight and life have been an obstacle to commercial viability of electric-powered cars and trucks.

"Society really needs a low-cost, high-performance energy storage device, such as batteries and simple supercapacitors," Stanford assistant professor of materials science and engineering and paper co-author Yi Cui said.

Cui said in an e-mail that in addition to being useful for portable electronics and wearable electronics, "Our paper supercapacitors can be used for all kinds of applications that require instant high power."

"Since our paper batteries and supercapacitors can be very low cost, they are also good for grid-connected energy storage," he said.

Peidong Yang, professor of chemistry at the University of California-Berkeley, said the technology could be commercialized within a short time.

'18 Kids & Counting' Mom Michelle Duggar Hospitalized In Arkansas

Michelle Duggar - matriarch of the Duggar family from TLC's "18 Kids and Counting" - was

hospitalized in Arkansas over the weekend, according to People.

The 42-year-old reality mom - who is pregnant with her 19th child - was reportedly rushed to

the E.R. due to a gallbladder problem.

"This weekend, Michelle Duggar was admitted to an Arkansas hospital due to gallbladder

issues," a rep for TLC told People. "The pain from a gallstone was generating some

contractions. Just to be safe, she was airlifted a Little Rock, Ark., hospital, so that in

the unlikely event that she had to be delivered early, she would be close to a NICU center."

Although Michelle remains hospitalized, the network spokesperson said both mom and baby are

doing fine.

"Though there were some fears that the baby was in trouble initially, it soon was discovered

to be solely the gallstone causing the discomfort. Michelle is resting comfortably, and the

baby is doing fine," the rep added. "Doctors want to observe Michelle in the hospital for

the next couple of days... but it would appear that the pain medication they have given her

for the gallstone has worked, and there is no need for immediate surgery. The hope is that

any necessary surgery can be delayed until after she delivers."

In September, Michelle and husband Jim Bob announced they were pregnant with their 19th

child.

"We are so thrilled," Michelle told People at the time. "We just couldn't believe it is

happening."

When the latest addition to the family does arrive, the Duggar's total tally isn't the only

thing that will be changing - so will the name of their show.

Access Hollywood previously confirmed TLC will change the name of the series to "19 Kids and

Counting," following the child's birth.

In October, Jim Bob and Michelle became grandparents for the first time when Joshua and Anna

Duggar welcomed daughter Mackynzie Renee Duggar.

Bollywood is beauty obsessed, says French actress

French actress Fanny Valette says she has no problem doing an out-and-out Bollywood movie

but at the same time she is very critical about the concept of beauty in the industry.

"Certainly, I would like to do a Bollywood movie. Will love to do romantic movies. I have

also heard about 'Devdas', its lead actress Aishwarya Rai and the legendary actor Amitabh

Bachchan," Fanny told PTI.

However, she was extremely critical when asked about the size-zero fad and importance given

to it in Hindi films.

"Beauty is something that is very subjective. What makes an actor or actress really

beautiful is how he or she can touch your heart through their performance and express

themselves well," she said.

Actors who have impressed me in the past are only those who have acted very well, she said

adding if acting is not good, audience would eventually get bored.

"May be Indians would not share the same opinion, but I put a lot of importance to good

acting. Putting a lot of importance to physical beauty is a monstrous act. Beauty is

something very plastic. It is something that you get genetically from your parents," the

23-year-old actress said.

Fanny is part of the French delegation of actors who are currently here for the French Film

Festival.

Her movie 'Vertige' (Vertigo) was screened in the festival. She debuted with Gerard

Lauzier's 'Le Fils du Francais' at the age of 13. In the movie she shared the screen with

two great French actresses Josaine Balasko and Fanny Ardant.

‘Control Your Woman’ remote slammed!

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Low-cost domestic carriers raise airfares on busy routes

Crippled by financial setbacks and a dip in revenues, domestic air carriers have more than

doubled the fares on select metro routes ahead of a long festive season, as compared to the

fares four months ago. While a Delhi-Mumbai one-way ticket priced at the lowest fare cost

around Rs 2,300 in August this year, it has more than doubled to Rs 4,900 now, if booked 10

days in advance.

All the five low-cost carriers � Go Air, Indigo, SpiceJet, JetLite (erstwhile Air Sahara),

Kingfisher Red (erstwhile Air Deccan) � are charging upwards of Rs 4,500 one-way to

connect any two of the four major metro cities. Flyers will have to shell out around Rs

5,700 as one-way fare from Delhi to Bangalore, which used to cost around Rs 2,500 four

months ago. Similarly, the Delhi-Chennai one-way fare totals to around Rs 5,400 now as

compared to Rs 2,900 four months ago.

Aviation experts say that the recent hike could be explained by multiple factors which have

affected the airline industry. "Airlines have posted significant losses recently; now they

are trying to maximise the recoveries by hiking fares on metro routes that have high load

factors," said Kapil Arora, partner (advisory services), Ernst and Young Pvt Ltd. The

pricing that was adopted by domestic carriers till a few months ago, said Arora, was highly

irrational and was even below cost. "Airlines have started pricing rationally in select

sectors to bring closer the break-even point," he added. In the second quarter of 2009-10,

the balance sheet of all listed airlines was splattered with red. Vijay Mallya-promoted

Kingfisher Airlines posted a loss of Rs 419 crore, Jet Airways suffered a loss of Rs 409

crore and low-cost carrier SpiceJet incurred a loss of Rs 101 crore in Q2 2009-10.

Even though the domestic market remains highly price sensitive, aviation industry experts

rule out the possibility of the traffic taking a beating due to high fares in the coming

quarter. "With the macro economy picking up and GDP growth clocking 7.9 per cent, the demand

story is back. While the fares are on the higher side, they are not unreasonably high. The

traffic has risen steadily by 25-26 per cent in the last couple of months and is unlikely to

be impacted by the rise in fares," said SpiceJet COO Samyukta Sreedharan.

While fares have also been impacted with the airlines withdrawing most of the promotional

offers that were introduced a few months ago, aviation fuel price also had a role to play.

In the last six months, the aviation fuel prices have risen by around 12.5 per cent, forcing

all domestic carriers to raise the fuel surcharge by up to Rs 200.

"Airlines cannot absorb the rise in fuel prices any more and have been forced to pass on the

impact to the customer," said Arora.