You want it perfect ? but does the boss? ? Business Management ...

Phil, an administrative assistant, re??cently lamented that his efforts to improve his boss?s communication were going unheeded.

?When I try to make grammatical, punctuation or spelling corrections to his written communication, he invariably resists my efforts and argues every point,? says Phil. ?How do I make him see that I?m right, without sounding like a ?difficult employee???

Accuracy, on every front, is one of an administrative assistant?s most valuable attributes. For Phil, in particular, it?s difficult not to notice the grammatical errors. And because he notices them, he feels compelled to point them out.

But perhaps it?s not what Phil?s boss wants from Phil. When someone hands you his work to look over, first determine what he wants in return.

???Ask, ?What would you like for me to look out for?? Give examples. ?Would you like for me to correct any misspellings or grammatical errors? Would you like for me to check the tone or meaning??

???Repeat back what you heard. Example: ?So, you?d like for me to edit any grammatical or spelling errors I spot. Is that right??

???Consider how to deliver feedback. Is your boss a busy person who prefers to communicate by email? Is what you?re saying likely to spur a discussion, which doesn?t lend itself to email?

If your boss doesn?t value the fact that you can catch even the smallest grammatical slip, then try to keep perfectionism at bay.

Some bosses appreciate perfectionism, such as Susan Credle, chief creative officer of Leo Burnett USA. But even Credle recognizes that perfectionism can work against an employee.

She tells The New York Times, ?I love perfectionists. I?ll say to them: ?Come sit with me and let?s talk about what you?re pushing up against.?And is this the right thing to focus on? And let?s be sincere about it, because you are not going to survive in this industry if you can?t let some of these things go.??

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Facebook to let users vote on privacy changes

1 hr.

Facebook is letting its nearly 1 billion users vote on changes to its privacy policy.

The previously announced changes include new sections explaining how it uses people's information. The updates also reflect recently added features such as a new profile format called Timeline.

The new policy also opens up the possibility for Facebook to start showing people ads on outside websites, targeting the pitches to interests and hobbies that users express on Facebook.

The voting period starts Friday and runs through next week. The company had announced the changes in May, a week before its initial public offering of stock. Facebook's highly anticipated IPO landed with a thud, closing just 23 cents above its $38 offering price on its first trading day. The stock has declined another 26 percent in the two weeks since then.

This is the second time Facebook Inc. is letting users vote on policy changes. The first time was in 2009 when Facebook was a much smaller, privately held company with fewer than 200 million users.

It may be the last time, though.

Thirty percent of Facebook's 900 million users, or 270 million people, have to vote on the changes ? for or against ? to have the process be binding. Otherwise, Facebook considers the vote "advisory."

That will most likely be the case. Facebook's experiment in democracy hasn't panned out as expected. While thousands of people have left comments on Facebook's proposed changes, "our original intent was to get high-quality," and not high-quantity comments, said Erin Egan, Facebook's chief privacy officer of policy.

Facebook said it is still interested in getting user feedback on its policies, but it is reviewing how best to do so.

"While our participatory mechanisms may change, our commitment to greater transparency, accountability and responsiveness will not," Facebook vice president Elliot Schrage wrote in a blog post. "We will explore ways to bring user suggestions and concerns before Facebook's management."

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.?

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Mistrial declared in John Edwards case

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MoneySupermarket To Acquire MoneySavingExpert For ?87 million

SNF22CASH02M_280_473056aMoneySupermarket, a UK Price comparison site for financial services, is acquiring advice site MoneySavingExpert from founder Martin Lewis, for ?87 million ($133 million). Lewis, a personal finance journalist, launched MoneySavingExpert in 2003. According to Google Analytics it gets 39 million unique visitors and about 277 million page impressions a month. That makes it a powerful player and Lewis has parlayed this into books and TV shows in the UK.

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Solar Maximum predicted for 2013, National Press club briefing June 5

Top scientists to gather at National Press Club June 5, 2012

To Warn the World About The Threats of Solar Maximum 2013

100418_geomagnetic_storm

?

?The event is being called the Space Weather Enterprise Forum 2012: Solar Maximum 2013 - How Space Weather Will Affect You!

And the reason it is being held at the National Press Club in Washington DC June 5, 2012 is that the lazy press can no longer ignore the story and avoid the responsibliltiy of preparing the nation for the risks of Solar Maximum on life as we know it.

?Here is how they explain it:

?Motivation

?As we approach the next peak of solar activity expected in 2013, our Nation faces multiplying uncertainties from increasing reliance on space weather-affected technologies for communications, navigation, security, and other activities, many of which underpin our national infrastructure and economy.? We also face increasing exposure to space weather-driven human health risks as trans-polar flights and space activities, including space tourism and space commercialization, increase.?

?

This is what they will learn, from a report on www.Marsnow.info

?"Coronal mass ejections expand away from the Sun at speeds as high as 2000 km per second. They carry up to ten billion tons (1016 grams) of plasma away from the Sun, NASA explains in a posting far away from any mention of MLS.

Coronal mass ejections were once thought to be initiated by solar flares. Although most are accompanied by flares, it is now understood that flares and CMEs are related phenomena, but one does not cause the other. This has important implications for understanding and predicting the effects of solar activity on the Earth and in space.

While a flare alone produces high-energy particles near the Sun, some of which escape into interplanetary space, a CME drives a shock wave which can continuously produce energetic particles as it propagates through interplanetary space.

When a CME reaches the Earth, its impact disturbs the Earth's magnetosphere, setting off a geomagnetic storm. A CME typically takes 3 to 5 days to reach the Earth after it leaves the Sun. Observing the ejection of CMEs from the Sun provides an early warning of geomagnetic storms. Only recently, with SOHO, has it been possible to continuously observe the emission of CMEs from the Sun and determine if they are aimed at the Earth.

One serious problem that can occur during a geomagnetic storm is damage to Earth-orbiting satellites, especially those in high, geosynchronous orbits. Communications satellites are generally in these high orbits. Either the satellite becomes highly charged during the storm and a component is damaged by the high current that discharges into the satellite, or a component is damaged by high-energy particles that penetrate the satellite. We are not able to predict when and where a satellite in a high orbit may be damaged during a geomagnetic storm.

?The Space Weather Enterprise?Forum

The Space Weather Enterprise Forum brings together the space weather community to share information and ideas among policymakers, senior government leaders, researchers, service- provider agencies, private-sector service providers, space weather information users, media, and legislators and staff from Capitol Hill to raise awareness of space weather and its effects on society.? This year, we will continue this outreach but will sharpen the focus on critical infrastructure protection, with the necessary underpinnings of research, improved products and services, and applications to serve a broad and growing user community.? Our ultimate goal is to improve the Nation?s ability to prepare for, avoid, mitigate, respond to, and recover from the potentially devastating impacts of space weather events on our health, economy, and national security.

?

Forum Objectives

?

?Describe space weather, why it matters, and its potential impacts.

?Discuss critical infrastructure protection, mitigation, and response.

?Describe the Unified National Space Weather Capability (UNSWC), and highlight?? the improvements this interagency initiative has fostered.

?Describe how space weather science benefits the public.

?Improve public understanding of and access to space weather services.

Who Should Attend

?

?Users, operators, and developers of spacecraft, satellite communications, and high frequency radio and radar communications systems.

?Users, operators, and developers of global positioning systems and applications.

?Users, operators, and developers of the electric power generation system and distribution grid.

?Aircrews, operators, and aircraft design engineers for high-altitude and trans-polar aviation.

?Human spaceflight managers, astronauts, planners, and engineers including suborbital space tourism activities.

?Academic, private sector, and government space weather researchers.

?Commercial space weather data and service providers.

?Government space weather data and service providers.

?Policymakers and analysts in the areas of space, energy, aviation, communications, and national security.

?Congressional members and staff

?Staff of the Executive Office of the President

Registration Required

The forum is open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis but a registration fee of $50 is required for all attendees.? Register online by clicking on the Registration link on this page.

?

Forum Sponsors

The National Space Weather Program Council is organizing the 2012 SWEF through the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research (OFCM), and we would especially like to thank the National Science Foundation for providing the financial support for this year?s forum.? Please click on the ?National Space Weather Program? link for more information on the program, the Council, the Committee for Space Weather, the OFCM, and the participating agencies.

?Presented by: The National Space Weather Program

?

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Diablo 3 Glitches - Video Games Blogger

Here are some of the recently discovered Diablo 3 glitches. Note that these can of course get patched by Blizzard at any time.

Enemies with no resistances, that just won?t die!

On Nightmare difficulty mode in Act 4 the Izual boss decided to spawn TWICE instead of just once.

On Nightmare difficulty mode on The Silver Spire Level 2 some unlucky travelers encountered these impossible to kill monsters constantly rising health points, to over 700 million!

Here?s an invisible boss battle on a Demon Hunter solo on Nightmare difficulty mode. The game kept glitching and eventually the floor and boss and everything all vanished.

And of course let?s not forget about Diablo 3?s Game Breaking Bug with the shield.

Index of Diablo 3 Guides:

What Diablo 3 glitches have you encountered on your travels?


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Rumor: Sony to announce acquisition of Gaikai streaming video game

Sony is reportedly closing a deal that will radically transform the PlayStation business.

Every trailer and teaser from every video game company on Earth ahead of E3 promises the same things: Revolutionary new services! Ground breaking announcements! News so earth shattering that your mind will literally split open and rays of pure enlightenment will flood your secret interior! Rumors and teases for weeks now have hinted that Sony is planning big announcements for E3, but the biggest rumor of all is swiftly looking like a reality: Sony is going to transform its gaming business by acquiring streaming, cloud-based games service Gaikai.

MCV reported on Wednesday that Sony is very near to finalizing a deal to acquire a streaming games service. The site?s source is quoted as saying the deal ?is close to being signed.?

We reported last Thursday that Sony was rumored to be partnering with a streaming video game service and would announce the union at E3 in Los Angeles next week, but it was unknown which service in particular would be that partner. Gameblog.fr (via NeoGAF) reported on Wednesday though that Gaikai is now teasing a major announcement for E3 as well. An invitation to Gaikai?s event reads: ?Gaikai has major announcements for E3 which have the potential to change the future of video games, game consoles, and the way in which we play.?

A partnership with Gaikai would massively broaden Sony?s potential gaming business. The PlayStation 3 itself could become the first major console to support a full streaming service, but a PlayStation-branded streaming service that hosts big budget console games like Mass Effect 3 and Resident Evil 6 on smartphones and tablets would widen Sony?s reach in the gaming business dramatically. It would also be a service that truly distinguished Sony?s home and portable consoles from the competition, a legitimate hook, something Sony has lacked in this console generation.

Of the nascent streaming, cloud-based game services out there, Gaikai is not quite as successful as OnLive. It simply doesn?t have as many partners providing game content, relying chiefly on Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, and Capcom for its content. This deal with Sony would likely strengthen its standing with publishers considerably, as Sony would act as a link to all of the publishers? retail ambitions. The consoles themselves would help publishers maintain a physical retail presence, the PlayStation Network an established digital distribution center, and the remodeled Gaikai as reliable way to explore streaming content with a secure partner.

This could be a defining E3 for Sony.?

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Vintage Zoo Pamphlets Feature Odd Exhibits & Extinct Animals

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Egyptians torch Shafiq headquarters as vote triggers violence

CAIRO (Reuters) - Demonstrators furious that Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister made it into the run-off for Egypt's presidential election set ablaze his campaign headquarters on Monday, witnesses said, underscoring the divisive outcome of the country's historic vote.

Former air force commander Ahmed Shafiq, who has described Mubarak as a role model, will face the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Mursi in the run-off. It is a contest between the two most polarizing and controversial figures in the race.

A group of protesters broke into and vandalized Shafiq's office in the residential district of Dokki before setting it ablaze, the state news agency reported. An official in the fire service confirmed the blaze had been extinguished without causing any casualties.

Several thousand protesters took to the streets across Egypt to demonstrate against the result of the election's first round, which was officially announced on Monday.

Trouble flared in Cairo's Tahrir Square when activists said unknown assailants attacked one such protest. Rocks flew in scenes reminiscent of other spasms of violence during a messy transition from military rule that is due to end when the military hands power to the new president on July 1.

Local media reported the protest had been attacked by unknown "thugs", though the account could not be independently confirmed.

Many analysts had predicted that a Shafiq-Mursi run-off could trigger trouble. The vote marks a ballot box struggle between a symbol of the military-based autocracy of the last six decades and one of the Islamist movements it had oppressed.

The result is deeply disappointing to the activist movement that took to the streets on January 25, 2011, triggering the mass uprising that toppled Mubarak. They had seen other candidates as more representative of their hopes for change.

One of those candidates, Khaled Ali, joined the protest in Tahrir, "(The elections) were neither free or fair," Ali told news channel Al Jazeera Mubasher Misr, adding that Tahrir was the place that had "toppled Mubarak, and would topple Shafiq".

Shafiq has built a sizeable constituency with a law-and-order platform, convincing some he is the man to end 15 months of turbulence. Mursi's supporters believe Mursi and the Brotherhood are the best hope for reforming a corrupt state.

But many Egyptians picked neither and are now left with a wrenching choice between a symbol of the past and an Islamist group that arouses deep suspicions for some.

Mursi topped the poll with 24.3 percent of the vote, followed by Shafiq with 23.3 percent. Turnout was 46 percent, according to the official results.

About half of the first-round votes went to candidates somewhere in the middle ground - from leftist Hamdeen Sabahy, third-placed with 20.4 percent, to moderate Islamist Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh, with 17.2 percent, and former Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, with 10.9 percent.

'QUESTION MARKS'

Mahmoud Momen, a 19-year-old student, held aloft a picture of Shafiq with a black X daubed over his face as he took part in a Cairo march against the result.

"Neither Brotherhood or feloul," he said, invoking the word used in Egyptian political slang to refer to politicians who served in the Mubarak administration. "We want someone who represents the square."

Another protester, a 19-year-old student who identified himself as Omar, said the vote had been rigged, triggering an argument with a bystander who disputed the claim.

Similar protests erupted in Alexandria on Egypt's northern Mediterranean coast, and in Port Said, Ismailia and Suez, cities along the Suez Canal east of Cairo.

In Alexandria, some 2,000 protesters marched through the city, tearing up Shafiq and Mursi election posters they encountered along their way.

The protests were fuelled by accusations - denied by the committee overseeing the vote - that there had been serious violations. Abol Fotouh, Sabahy and Moussa filed complaints about the voting, all of which were rejected by the committee.

Earlier, Abol Fotouh alleged the vote had been marred by vote buying and other irregularities. "I reject these results and do not recognize them," said Abol Fotouh, a former Brotherhood member. In a statement, Sabahy also alleged irregularities.

Moussa said earlier that "question marks" hung over the vote. "There were violations, but this should not change our minds on democracy and the necessity of choosing our president."

The Muslim Brotherhood sought to muster a coalition to help Mursi against Shafiq.

The close contest has set both contenders scrambling for support, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood, which is trying to draw losing candidates and other political forces into a broad front to prevent a "counter-revolutionary" Shafiq victory.

The ultra-orthodox Salafi Islamist party Al-Nour has said it will now back Mursi, after siding with Abol Fotouh in the first round. The party has the second biggest bloc in parliament after the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party.

Beyond the Islamist movement, it might prove harder for the group to find allies. Secular-minded parties have grown suspicious of the Brotherhood, accusing it of being power hungry and putting a quest for power over principle - charges it denies.

A Brotherhood source, who asked not to be named, said the Islamist group had prepared a menu of options to tempt rival groups and politicians to its side.

These include creating a five-member advisory council to advise the president; assigning the posts of prime minister or vice-president to Abol Fotouh and Sabahy; distributing cabinet posts to other parties; and offering compromises on planned laws and on an assembly tasked with drafting a new constitution.

(Additional reporting by Marwa Awad, Tamim Elyan, Shaimaa Fayed, Dina Zayed, Edmund Blair, Patrick Werr in Cairo and Abdel Rahman Youssef in Alexandria; Writing by Alistair Lyon and Tom Perry; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Eric Beech)

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