Nook Tablet and Amazon Kindle Fire App Stores Compared (ContributorNetwork)

"This isn't anything like a formal study," technology expert Marco Arment wrote in his "Informal e-reader library comparison," "so take this with a grain of salt." But in his opinion, the Kindle and Nook have roughly comparable book stores, with Amazon.com's advantage not nearly as great as expected on the titles he searched for.

That's all well and good if you bought your Kindle or Nook to read books on. But the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet (and last year's Nook Color) are color multitouch tablets, more like the iPad than like the original black-and-white Kindle. Both of them can run games and apps, and both have numerous titles in their app stores.

So, the question is: Which app store is better?

The method used to find out

Bigger doesn't always mean better. The Android Market, for instance, has thousands more free apps than the iPhone's App Store, but that doesn't mean that its selection is strictly better. Since it costs only $25 to put free apps on the Market, compared to $99 per year to put any apps on the App Store, a lot of the free "apps" on the Market are tests, soundboards, and hobbyist projects.

So this isn't about comparing the size of each market to the other. (If it were, Amazon's "Appstore" would win handily.) Rather, we're going to search each store's catalog for a handful of apps, mostly taken from the Android Market's top free and paid lists.

How the Nook fared

First, there are no official Facebook or Twitter apps for the Nook. Instead, you'll have to rely on Seesmic, which is only rated at three out of five stars. Pandora's preinstalled, on the other hand, as is Netflix (on the Nook Tablet; the Nook Color can't run it).

Quickoffice Pro is available for the Nook, but there's no free version, and no Photoshop either. And three versions of Angry Birds are available, but there's no Cut the Rope or Fruit Ninja (although there are dubious-looking clones).

How the Kindle performed

There's an official Twitter app for the Kindle Fire, but no official Facebook app (you're stuck with Seesmic again). There's an official Pandora app as well as a Netflix one, and it's worth noting that Amazon has its own movie and MP3 stores as well.

Quickoffice Pro and Photoshop are both there, as are Cut the Rope, Fruit Ninja, and several versions of Angry Birds ... including free ones. Plus, Angry Birds Rio was an Amazon Appstore exclusive before coming to other markets.

The Upshot

This study was not scientific, and your needs and your mileage may vary. But it looks like the work Amazon did to build up its Appstore paid off; the Kindle Fire has the lead both in quality as well as quantity.

On the other hand, the Nook Color has long been a favorite of hobbyists for its ability to be turned into a full-fledged Honeycomb Android tablet, including access to the Android Market. Depending on your comfort level for the procedures involved in doing so, this might give the Nook the edge for you.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20111203/tc_ac/10584329_nook_tablet_and_amazon_kindle_fire_app_stores_compared

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China services data may bolster case for further easing (Reuters)

SHANGHAI (Reuters) ? China's services sector contracted in November, mirroring similar weakness in the country's giant manufacturing sector and underlining expectations that Beijing can ease monetary policy further to cushion the blows of the global economy.

China's official purchasing managers' index for its non-manufacturing sector fell to 49.7 in November from 57.7 in October, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said on Saturday. The 50-mark divides expansion from contraction.

A private-sector PMI on non-manufacturers from HSBC is due for release at 9:30 p.m. EST on Monday and may paint a similar picture of weakness in services as the euro-zone debt crisis weighs on the global economy. The HSBC gauge in October was running at 54.1, the strongest growth in four months.

PMI data in the past week has shown that both domestic and export orders are weakening, helping explain the central bank's decision last Wednesday to cut reserve requirements for commercial lenders for the first time in three years.

The move to free up cash was a signal that the central bank was shifting toward loosening monetary policy to support the economy, which is widely expected to grow next year at less than 9 percent for the first time in a decade, economists said.

Indeed, former central bank adviser Fan Gang said in the Securities Times newspaper on Saturday that there was room for further cuts in reserve requirements provided inflation continued to fall.

"There is plenty of room for adjusting banks' reserve requirements ratios," he said.

The official manufacturing PMI on Thursday showed prices fell in November and Premier Wen Jiabao said on November 9 that prices had fallen since October.

Consumer inflation dropped in October to 5.5 percent, backtracking from a three-year high of 6.5 percent in July.

The official services PMI suggested the sector was weak due to softer consumption patterns and a slowdown in the construction industry.

"The retail, food and beverage industry-based consumer services were in an off-season, showing a more significant decline," Cai Jin, a vice president with the CFLP, said in a statement.

The sub-index of new orders in services PMI declined to 47.2 in November, indicating they were actually falling, from 52.5 in October. Input prices for the Chinese services sector eased to 54.4 from 55.7 in October, showing inflationary pressures eased.

The services PMI index aims to give a snapshot of conditions in the services sector, which accounts for less than 45 percent of China's economy, much less than in developed countries.

Last Thursday, the official manufacturing PMI fell to 49 in November from October's 50.4, pointing to the first contraction in activity in nearly three years, or since the global financial crisis.

The HSBC manufacturing PMI dropped to a 32-month low of 47.7 in November from October's 51.

"The November PMI final reading points to a sharp deterioration in business conditions across the Chinese manufacturing sector," said Qu Hongbin, China economist at

HSBC.

Globally, the picture was similar.

A global PMI produced by JPMorgan, with research and supply management organizations, fell to 49.6, suggesting a contraction in global manufacturing.

Chinese officials have expressed growing alarm at the slide in the global economy as Europe struggles to produce a decisive solution to its debt crisis.

Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao said last week that the world economy faced a worse crisis now than during 2008 and that stimulating growth should be a priority.

Vice Premier Wang Qishan in November said a chronic global recession was certain.

Although analysts say China is shifting policy to support growth, China's Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development suggested there would be no let up in policy controls on the property market.

The ministry told local governments not to relax home purchase restrictions, the China Business Journal said on Saturday, adding that the restrictions would continue despite their scheduled expiry in at least 11 cities by year-end.

The paper quoted an unnamed government official with the ministry as saying China's current property controls of restrictive home buying would not change.

On Friday, China's central bank said Chinese home prices were at a turning point. Home prices fell in October from September for the first time this year, official data showed, but a private survey has indicated that November could mark a third consecutive monthly fall.

(Reporting by Melanie Lee; Writing by Kevin Yao and Neil Fullick; Editing by Mark Bendeich)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111204/bs_nm/us_china_economy

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Zambia rejects rights group's call to arrest Bush

LUSAKA, Zambia (AP) ? Zambia has dismissed an international rights group's call for the arrest on torture charges of former President George W. Bush, who has been touring Africa to raise awareness about cervical and breast cancer.

"On what basis does Amnesty International want us to arrest President Bush?" state media quoted Foreign Affairs Minister Chishimba Kambwili as saying while Bush, his wife and daughters ended their visit to Zambia on Saturday.

Kambwili said Zambia would have considered the request only if it had come from the International Criminal Court acting on behalf of international organizations like the United Nations.

Earlier in the week, Amnesty International said it had asked Tanzania, Zambia and Ethiopia to arrest Bush, "someone who has admitted to authorizing waterboarding." As president, Bush authorized the interrogation technique that simulates drowning and is viewed as torture by many.

Bush is warmly remembered across Africa for his U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which since 2003 has provided AIDS treatment to millions on the continent hardest hit by the disease.

Bush started his Africa tour in Tanzania. He launched his Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon project Friday in Zambia. The project is aimed at expanding the availability of breast care education and cervical cancer screening and treatment.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-12-04-AF-Zambia-Bush/id-66357afa6f324a6cbbc7ec0096d03980

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Nevada Cancer Institute Announces Sale ? CBS Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, NV ? Nevada Cancer Institute announced Friday it has entered into an agreement to sell its state-of the-art outpatient cancer treatment facility and its operations to the UC San Diego Health System.

The sale to UCSD is occurring in conjunction with a negotiated restructuring with NVCI?s lenders that is expected to reduce NVCI?s debt by more than $50 million. The sale and consensual restructuring will allow NVCI to continue with increasing cancer knowledge, funding cancer research and treatment.

NVCI will file a voluntary petition to restructure under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.

?The sale of NVCI?s operations and treatment facility to UCSD, along with the debt restructuring, are great news for NVCI, our patients and the community, and if approved, will preserve NVCI?s important mission and ensure that Nevadans will continue to receive comprehensive and innovative cancer care,? said Michael W. Yackira, chairman of NVCI?s board of directors.

The sale is expected to close in early 2012.

Source: http://lasvegas.cbslocal.com/2011/12/03/nevada-cancer-institute-announces-sale/

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WikiLeaks' chief in vital extradition court fight (AP)

LONDON ? Julian Assange is making what could be a last throw of the legal dice in his battle to avoid extradition to Sweden over sex crimes allegations.

On Monday the WikiLeaks founder will ask judges to let him take his case to Britain's Supreme Court. If they say no, he could be on a plane to Stockholm within days.

The 40-year-old Australian behind the secret-spilling website has spent almost a year on bail in Britain fighting extradition for questioning over claims of rape and molestation made by two Swedish women. So far, two courts have ruled against him.

For his case to be considered by Britain's Supreme Court, Assange's lawyers must persuade two High Court judges that it raises a question of "general public importance."

According to a website devoted to arguing Assange's case, his lawyers will seek to argue two points ? that the European arrest warrant for Assange is invalid because it was not issued by the correct authority, and that he should not be extradited because he has not been charged with any crime.

Lower courts have already considered and rejected both arguments.

Assange's hearing on Monday will come on the same day as a parliamentary debate on Britain's extradition rules. The House of Commons will debate and vote on demands to change extradition agreements that require Britain to transfer individuals to the U.S. and Europe ? sometimes on insufficient evidence, critics say.

Assange declined to discuss his case, but told The Associated Press he was heartened that lawmakers are tackling the issue of extraditions.

"What we ask for is humble ? the right to not be shipped off to foreign lands without formal charges or the presentation of even the most basic evidence," he told the AP in an email.

A district judge ruled in February that Assange could be extradited, and the High Court upheld that decision last month, saying the alleged offenses amounted to crimes under British law and ruling that the arrest warrant had been properly issued.

If Assange is granted a Supreme Court appeal, his stay in Britain ? where he lives under curfew at an affluent supporter's rural mansion ? is likely to last for many more months.

If he is denied, his legal fight will move to Sweden. Last month Assange replaced his Swedish lawyer with two high-profile attorneys, Per E. Samuelson and Thomas Olsson. Samuelson has a long track-record as a defense lawyer in sex crime cases and has also represented one of the men behind file-sharing website The Pirate Bay.

The allegations against Assange stem from a visit to Sweden in August 2010, shortly after WikiLeaks released secret U.S. files from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Assange became involved with two women, one of whom later accused him of coercion and molestation. The other alleged that he had sex with her as she slept.

Swedish prosecutors have not charged Assange with any crime, but have demanded that he return to Scandinavia to face questions.

He denies wrongdoing and says the sex was consensual. He has insisted the sex crimes investigation is politically motivated by opponents of his organization.

Assange has become a global figure since WikiLeaks began releasing secret government documents, including hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables from U.S. missions around the world.

Vilified by U.S. authorities and other governments angry about their secrets being leaked, he has been hailed as a free-speech hero by many around the world.

But his expensive legal troubles ? and moves by U.S. financial companies to block donations to the site ? have taken a financial toll on WikiLeaks, which has been forced to suspend publishing to focus on fundraising. Assange has said the organization needs $3.5 million to keep it going into 2013.

Assange also faces potential legal action in the U.S., where prosecutors are weighing criminal charges, and where he could be dragged into the case of Bradley Manning, a U.S. Army analyst suspected of disclosing secret intelligence to WikiLeaks.

Manning remains in custody at Fort Leavenworth prison in Kansas. A military court hearing to decide whether he will stand trial is due to begin Dec. 16.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111204/ap_on_re_eu/wikileaks

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Next 'Occupy' targets: foreclosed homes, vacant lots

Ben Stansall / AFP - Getty Images

'Occupy London' protesters already have seized an empty office block owned by Swiss banking giant UBS.

By Miranda Leitsinger, Senior Writer and Editor, msnbc.com

?Occupy? protesters and housing rights activists are planning to help families resist eviction from foreclosed homes and take control of? vacant properties in some 25 U.S. cities on Tuesday,? an effort aimed at focusing attention on the ongoing housing crisis and giving the movement a new focus after the dismantling of many of its encampments.

The protesters have been crafting proposals ? often quietly to prevent police from learning about their intentions beforehand -- to defend families facing eviction or return others home. In Minneapolis, for example, they plan to help a Vietnam War veteran stay in his home, while in New York, protesters will help a family get back into their house, activists said.

"It?s part of a national day of action that we hope will kick off a wave of defenses and home re-occupations,? Max Berger, 26, told the Occupy Wall Street General Assembly late Thursday while requesting $6,400 in funding to buy tools for the project. "This is not just about one event; this is a huge frontier for us. We can do these kinds of actions all the time, and we should. And it doesn?t have to be just us. We got to do this one right so we can inspire people to do it theirselves.?

---

?Occupy? protesters already have been squatting in vacant houses in cities like Washington, D.C., New York, Seattle, Portland, Oakland and London, where protesters have taken over an abandoned office block bought by UBS several years ago and dubbed it the "Bank of Ideas." They also have made scattered efforts ? some of them successful -- to help families facing eviction defend their homes, including in California and Minneapolis.???

One of those efforts is ?Occupy 477,??where protesters joined families facing eviction from a West Harlem building and restored heat and water to the building, activists said.

Housing rights groups and ?Occupy? encampments have long been in talks about a national day of action, with regular conference calls involving dozens of activists, said Rob Robinson of Take Back the Land,?a national network of organizations focused on housing rights and securing community control over land.

"As part of the 99 percent, we feel like corporations, big banks, are what's holding us back, what?s keeping us impoverished. This is folks' way of fighting back against those institutions," Robinson said.

Banks are expected to repossess some 800,000 homes this year, down from more than 1 million last year, said RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio. But the number of U.S. homes that received a first-time default notice during the July to September quarter increased 14 percent compared to the second quarter of the year, according to the firm.

Massachusetts AG sues five banks over foreclosures

The increase is a sign that banks are now moving more aggressively against borrowers who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments following industrywide foreclosure processing problems that emerged last fall. Those problems resulted in a sharp drop in foreclosure activity early this year.

The "ultimate message" of the anti-foreclosure protests is "bank reform," said Anthony Newby, a community organizer with Neighborhoods for Change in Minneapolis.

The focus on the housing crisis could also give some new direction to the Occupy movement, which has faced evictions from their camps across the country.

"In some ways, it's a natural progression for lots of reasons for this whole Occupy movement to get away from the plaza and actually start doing things on Main Street ... that are affecting individual people's lives in a very direct way," Newby said.

At Occupy Wall Street, Berger noted that protesters had been frequently asked when they would begin engaging in politics, to which he said: "We are."

"The great thing about housing is it?s macro and it?s micro," he said. "People don?t understand a thing about proprietary trading ? but they know they have a mortgage that they're behind on."

?This movement is about taking back this country for regular people and that?s exactly what we?re doing with these actions," he later added. "We?re not going to let the power of the banks keep people from having what they need."

More news and feature stories from msnbc.com:

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/02/9166035-foreclosed-homes-empty-lots-are-next-occupy-target

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PFT: Peyton will increase throwing

AP

Congratulations, Steelers.? Your use of a term other than ?concussion? has officially given the condition the same stigma as herpes, HIV, and leprosy.

Why else would safety Troy Polamalu refuse to say on Friday whether he suffered a concussion five nights earlier against the Chiefs?? Andrew Stockey of WTAE asked the question, and Polamalu took the fifth on whether he has sustained his eighth known concussion.

Regardless of the reason, it?s bizarre that a team and a player would be so defiant when it comes to acknowledging what anyone who has had fewer than 50 concussions realizes:? Against the Chiefs, Troy Polamalu sustained a concussion.

The mere fact that he refused to answer the question confirms it.

Perhaps the Steelers have avoided the ?C? word in order to keep a truly independent neurologist out of the team?s and the player?s business.? Or maybe the goal is to subtly influence players to try to conceal their ?concussion-like symptoms? whenever and wherever possible, as part of facing down the demons inherent to the sport.

?That?s the fear, I think, that any player faces, and that?s the fear that anybody, any individual faces ? overcoming any certain fears of being a coward, you know, or letting your teammates down or turning down a hit,? Polamalu said regarding whether he?s concerned about a hit to the head that could cause long-term damage.? ?That?s the beautiful thing about sports, is these fears are right in your face and it?s pretty obvious if you turn them down or not.? I have the fear.? No question about it.? But I?m willing to fight it, for sure.?

I continue to believe that football players who are lucid and capable of making informed decisions should be permitted to assume all risks associated with playing football, even if they are still suffering from concussion-like (or concussion-actual) symptoms.? For now, the issue is whether the Steelers will fully embrace and respect the league?s current rules, which contemplate a full tearing down of the wall that resides between ?rubbing dirt on it? and acknowledging that serious, long-term damage could be done to a fairly vital organ.

Those rules entail encouraging players to be candid, not secretive, about the condition of their brains.? Polamalu?s simple refusal to admit the obvious shows conclusively that, within the Steelers organization, there?s an implicit understanding that confronting the fear of serious injury includes shrugging off the blows to the head that don?t create serious problems in the short term.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/12/02/peyton-manning-ive-been-doing-some-throwing-well-ramp-that-up/related/

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