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See The Home Base For The Startup That Connects Kaskade, Common, And Aziz Ansari With Fans

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fun playing, relaxing, fanbridge, office tour, bi, dng

For celebrities, managing all the social sites where they interact with fans is a headache. New York-based startup FanBridge has developed a comprehensive system for managing all those interactions.

It's handled fan interactions for the likes of Lady Gaga, Kaskade, Common, and Aziz Ansari—more than 678 million so far.

The team works out of offices in New York City, San Francisco, and Buenos Aires, where it's part of the burgeoning Argentinean startup scene.

SEE FANBRIDGE'S NEW YORK OFFICE >

Off-the-shelf videoconferencing wasn't doing the trick—so to stay connected, they held a company hackathon to develop a stable livestream between all the offices. 

They moved into a new space in New York in January. It's a fun workspace—sure, there's the requisite video-game room and ping-pong table, but we also spotted some perks we haven't seen elsewhere.

The team was busy when we arrived but they took some time to show us around.

A big sign welcomes you.



Of course, use the "FanBuzzer" to get in.



Inside, they have a small nook devoted to their main area of focus—acquiring new fans.



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BRAND NEW: Jeff Gundlach's Eye-Opening Presentation 'Mirror, Mirror On The Wall'

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Gundlach Presentation

Jeff Gundlach, the investing legend behind DoubleLine Funds, just gave another extremely informative and eye-opening presentation on the state of and outlook for the global economy and the financial markets.

Titled "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall," the presentation offers a series of charts that reveal how the fundamental characteristics of developed and developing markets have switched.

Gundlach's presentation focuses heavily on government debt and deficits, which is extremely timely given the upcoming presidential elections.  He continues to be very worried about the rising average household share of the national debt.  And he points to a series of data points that suggests those debts will only become more crushing.

In terms of other forecasts, Gundlach expects Obama to be re-elected President. But he also sees Congress being controlled by Republicans.

He also sees the 10-year Treasury yield being 100 basis points higher by year end.  And he likes the pair trade of shorting U.S. stocks and going long Chinese stocks.

The bulk of his brilliant insights come through in his presentation.







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Eleven Stories From Ground Zero On The Anniversary Of 9/11

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911Portraits

Stepping on the bus this morning, I asked the bus driver, "What do you think, Lincoln Tunnel gonna be packed?"

"I'm not sure, man, we haven't been through yet. But who knows, it's 9/11, anything can happen."

And that last phrase,"anything can happen," stuck with me for a few minutes.

We as Americans, even after eleven years, still remain sensitive, and yet mourn the loss that occurred more than a decade ago.

In a lot of ways, we've been conditioned, we know anything can happen, because it did happen, and especially today, on the eleventh anniversary, for a lot of us today is when 9/11 feels like yesterday.

What follows are eleven portraits; eleven people and their stories. Young, old, local or out of town, 9/11 touched all of us, and today we remember.

Susan Ballestero's sister, Loretta Anne Vero, was in Tower 1

"She was on the 94th floor, so we knew, we knew there was no way to get out of there. There was still hope though, even though we knew it was improbable. We thought maybe she was in the hospital. We had two detectives assigned to us, and on our own we called all the hospitals. We never heard word back from anyone."

They never found Loretta's remains. It was like she just ceased to exist. Susan said it took about 4 years for her to get over the ordeal. To be honest she looked like she was still in shock. This was her first time to the site of the memorials, and she came because her husband was reading the "B" names. They also got to do a personal dedication for Loretta.

"It took me about four years to come to terms with it," she said. Having no remains, no finality or closure, just made things worse for Susan. I didn't ask her how long it took to finally stop calling the hospitals, but something tells me it took a while.



Army Specialist Christian Mason was in the 4th grade when the towers came down

Christian told me that he enlisted to fight, though he was just a child when 9/11 happened, the memory stuck with him.

"By the time I was 17, I was down at the recruiting station."

He went for the Marines, then the Army, but the wait list was too long, so he joined the National Guard.

"I've really wanted to go overseas, but I haven't gotten the opportunity. I just wanted to serve the country. When I tried the active services, they told me I would have to wait 8 months. I didn't want to wait. I signed with the National Guard that same day."

Christian is a Military Policeman, part of the "field MPs," guys responsible for base and convoy security.



Doug Doughty and his fellow firefighters are not from NYC, but still they come every year

"We come down and visit some of the guys at the Wall Street Fire Department," he tells me, showing me his shirt. "They gave us unit shirts, because we came up with some big paintings of their (Engine and Ladder insignia)."

He and his colleagues—Dave Mazurek and two sons Leighton and Brian, and also Bob Beverage ("Like the Drink")—come down every year bearing gifts for the local fire departments here.

"We work up in Plainview, Connecticut, but we still want to show our support."



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CHINA CRASH 2012: Here's How It's Finally Happening This Time

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chinese students poster

For decades, experts have been predicting a crash in China.

They warned that the centrally planned, export-dependent economy, could not sustain itself year after year.

But through multiple crises, China has motored along, lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty in the process.

But things appear to be different this time. Corporate profits are tanking, and the Shanghai Composite is at the same levels it was during the depths of the 2008-2009 crash. A hard landing has hit the corporate sector.

And many are questioning whether policymakers are really in control of the slowdown this time, or if the economy is in fact heading for a hard landing i.e. four straight quarters of below five percent growth.

Click here to see the story of the crash >

Chinese leaders are on notice.

A recently announced infrastructure stimulus showed that Beijing is starting to worry about the depth of its economic slowdown.

But it also signaled that its economic rebalancing has been put on hold.

How did China get to this point? When did exports and infrastructure start driving the economy? And what is driving bearish sentiment now?

We look at how the Chinese economy has changed since 1978 and the biggest challenges it has lying ahead.

China has changed rapidly in the last two decades. This is Shanghai in 1990



And this is Shanghai in 2010



Big changes came to China in 1979 when policymakers implemented reforms to open its economy

The contribution of exports to GDP surged from 4.6 percent in 1978, when reformists like Deng Xiaoping began to implement market-oriented reforms. The ratio of exports to GDP climbed to 19.2 percent in 1997 as the country became increasingly exposed to global demand.

Source: Bank of America



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How To Stop Facebook From Tracking You

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stop sign

Most people don't realize that Facebook can continue to monitor their internet activity, even if they are no longer logged into the site.

Using "Facebook Connect," and other social pulg-ins, Facebook is able to set up a cookie on any site that has a "Like" or "share" button, giving Facebook access to a startling amount of user information. Technically, the purpose of these plug-ins is to authenticate users, but it still has the ability to collect personal information such as the IP address of your computer, browsing data, outside login information, phone numbers, etc.

The cookie, known as the "datr" cookie, has been a controversial topic for the past year. Using this cookie, among other things, Facebook knows what you have read on a web page even if you did not click the "like" button. As the Wall Street Journal reported, "for this to work, a person only needs to have logged into Facebook or Twitter once in the past month. The sites will continue to collect browsing data, even if the person closes their browser or turns off their computers."

To help users control how and when their information is tracked and distributed, companies such as Abine and Ghostery have developed tools that allow users to block Facebook social plug-ins, cookies, and other trackers.

We identified five practical options for consideration, including an option for web site publishers that will help help protect their customers from trackers while keeping their websites running smoothly.

Do Not Track Plus — A browser add-on that will identify and block trackers.

As Business Insider previously reported, Abine's DNT+ tool is a FREE add-on that monitors, tracks, and allows users to block any trackers and requests that may be following their internet activity. It is compatible with MAC or PC for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer. It is currently able to block more than 600 trackers, and automatically updates to catch new trackers.



Ghostery — similar to DNT+ but this add-on is also available for Opera.

Similar to DNT+, Ghostery is a browser add-on, owned by Evidon, that protects consumer privacy while online. By giving the consumer visibility into who is tracking their online activity and allowing them to block all or specific trackers, it empowers users with the ability to stop third parties from collecting their personal information without permission. It currently has more than 16 million monthly users and pulls data from over 26 million web domains via an opt-in service of 7 million users.

Ghostery is free to download, free to use, and does not contain any adware or spyware. It is available for all major browsers: Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Opera and Internet Explorer.



Disconnect and Collusion for Chrome — A robust tool that will identify and block trackers, but is only available for Chrome.

Chrome Disconnect Website

Similar to DNT+ and Ghostery, Chrome Disconnect allows you to stop third parties and search engines from tracking your web activity. Specifically, this tool focuses on allowing users to disconnect from sites such as Facebook, Digg, Google, Twitter, and Yahoo without risking the performance of the sites. The tool blocks identifiable cookies while allowing you stay logged into various sites.

Collusion for Chrome

This site allows users to then see which third parties are tracking them by graphing the spread of the data from sites to tracks, exposing them, and giving users the ability to block the trackers.



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The 12 Most Expensive Celebrity Wedding Gowns Of All Time

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madonna guy ritchie wedding

The average American bride spends $1,500 on her wedding gown. 

But that won't do for celebrities. Forbes recently compiled a list of the most expensive weddings and included some of the more exorbitant gowns. 

Jennifer Aniston and Tori Spelling spent over $50,000 on their gowns. Victoria Beckham, Melania Trump and Catherine Zeta Jones all had dresses worth six figures. 

And Kate Middleton's gown is worth enough to buy you a very large house. 

Even the best dress can't buy you love, though. Very few of the celebrity brides we profiled are still married to their grooms. 

We wonder what happened to the dresses.

12.) Liza Minelli married David Gest in 2002 in what was said to be the most expensive wedding of all time. Her Bob Mackey gown cost $45,000.



11.) Jennifer Aniston wore this Lawrence Steele gown when she married Brad Pitt in 2000. The dress was said to cost $50,000. The couple divorced five years later.



10.) Tori Spelling married Charlie Shanian in 2004, but divorced a year later. Her custom Badgley Mischka gown cost around $50,000.



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See Where The World's First Commercial Space Flights Will Take Off From

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Spaceport America

Virgin Galactic has promised to launch its pioneer spaceflight sometime next year aboard its spacecraft Spaceship Two. Once this flight takes off, it could mean the start of a whole new wave of commercial space tourism—and all of those space flights will likely leave from America's shiny new spaceport: Spaceport America.

Located in New Mexico, Spaceport America is "the world's first purpose-built commercial spaceport."

Built and operated by the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, Spaceport America officially opened in 2010, but the public areas aren't slated for completion until 2013.

The terminal and hangar facility, designed by British architectural firm Foster + Partners, is sleek and modern, yet it blends seamlessly into the arid New Mexico landscape. It's also high-tech and environmentally-friendly.

Overall, the project will cost $209 million. 

Spaceport America is located just west of the U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range in the Jornada del Muerto desert basin in New Mexico. It's about 90 miles north of El Paso and 55 miles north of Las Cruces.



"The world's first purpose-built commercial spaceport" has an airfield, launch pads, a terminal and hangar facility, emergency response capabilities, utilities and roadways.

Source: Spaceport America



Spaceport America officially opened in October 2011, but it's not fully completed yet. The public visitor facilities are slated for completion sometime next year.

Source: Spaceport America



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8 Must-See Charts On The Euro Crisis From Jeff Gundlach

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jeff gundlach

Last night, DoubleLine Capital's Jeff Gundlach hosted another one of his popular webcasts about the markets and the economy.

As expected, one of the major issues he addressed was the eurozone's debt ongoing debt crisis.

"It almost looks like the whole eurozone borrowed a ton of money and gave it to Germany," he said.

In eight simple charts, Gundlach illustrated the origins of the crisis, the state of the crisis, and the outlook for the crisis.

Unemployment in the Euro-Area has been getting worse, while the U.S. has been getting better



Europe is home to some of the largest debtor nations in the world



Despite being on the same currency, borrowing rates across the euro countries very tremendously



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12 Ways Biology Can Save The World [PICTURES|

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Dog Fish

The world faces many problems: disease, hunger, global warming. The solution to many of these challenges depends on science.   

This idea is at the center of a photo competition, now in its third year, held by London's Society of Biology called "How Biology Can Save The World." 

The pictures either depict pressing environmental issues, such as the decline of bee populations, or represent innovative solutions, such as using algae to make biofuel.  

Five hundred entries have now been whittled down to a short list of 12.  

The winner will be announced in October and receive a prize of $1,300.  

Preventing the spread of avian flu by spraying disinfectant on birds, chickens and ducks. The photo was taken at a poultry market in Northern Sumatra, Indonesia, where 156 people have died from the disease since 2005.



This research facility in the Philippines uses a system that recycles water to grow shrimp. The method will revolutionize seafood production, in turn, helping to solve global hunger.



This photo illustrates the beneficial properties of lichen, a combination of fungus and algae that sucks up pollutants in the air, thereby acting as a natural air quality monitor.



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11 Heartbreaking Facts About Poverty In America

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Poverty Food Pantry Economy Recession Depression AmericansNearly one-in-six Americans remain below the poverty line as the country grapples with low growth and moderate jobs growth, new data from the Census Bureau shows.

To qualify for poverty a family of four must earn less than $22,811

In its report released today, the Census Bureau painted a detailed picture of the difficulty many Americans are facing, including declining household earnings.

Below, 11 sad statistics from the report.

  • 46.2 million Americans are under the poverty line — that's 15.7 percent of the country
  • 1-in-15 American households earned less than $11,406, the second highest percentage since 1967
  • Median household incomes fell 1.5 percent to $50,100
  • 48.6 million Americans did not have health insurance in 2011 (down from 2010)
  • 9.4 percent of children did not have health insurance
  • The bottom 10 percent of earners made the same amount of money in 2011 as they did in 1994
  • Women continued to earn 77 percent of what men earned
  • 27.6 percent of Black Americans were in poverty
  • 25.3 percent of Hispanic Americans were in poverty
  • 9.8 percent of White Americans were in poverty
  • More than one-fifth of those under 18 were in poverty

The Census' report included charts that illustrate how key trends have evolved over time.

Real Median Household Income: 1967 to 2011



Real Median Household Income by Race and Hispanic Origin of Householder: 1967 to 2011



Real Household Income at Selected Percentiles: 1967 to 2011



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A Bankruptcy Court Is Selling Warren Sapp's Florida Mansion For $3.8 Mill

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warren sapp house

Former NFL lineman Warren Sapp filed for bankruptcy back in April and now his Florida mansion is going on the auction block according to Realtor.com via Larry Brown Sports.

Sapp's 15,600 square foot mansion was listed by a bankruptcy court for $3.77 million. If it hasn't sold by November 1st it will go on auction to the highest bidder.

Sapp's house is seriously luxurious. Realtor.com says there is "a heavy use of marble, hand-painted gold leaf crown moldings and Venetian plaster finishes."

The outlined area is all Sapp's property



A view of the front of the 15,000 square foot palace



Let's go in the gates



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Alleged New iPhone 5 Images Leak Minutes Before Apple's Big Reveal (AAPL)

18 Simple Ways To Save A Dollar A Day

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starbucks, coffee, hot chick This post originally appeared at SavvySugar.

It's true: the little things add up. As anyone who ever had a piggy bank knows, small everyday actions can help you save big.

Hoping to create a financial cushion for yourself this season?

We've come up with 18 easy tricks to help you save at least a dollar a day:

Video chat to save minutes

Rather than spending an hour on your cell phone, use free services like Google Chat and Skype to catch up with your friends.



Hold the milk (especially soy)

In your coffee, that is.

If you regularly stop at the coffee shop on your way to work, order it black to avoid any extra costs.



Go generic

At the grocery store, pick the generic variety of different foods to save big on pantry staples.

You could also try cutting out grocery stores altogether.



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What Pulling An All-Nighter Does To Your Body

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eyes open

Especially in your early years as an analyst, all Wall Streeters can expect to pull all-nighters.

Here's how it works. You're on an important project, and your boss realizes there's a mistake in the data, or the client pushes up a meeting, or you're just crashing on a deadline.

Either way, time is of the essence, you have to finish a task ASAP, and you're not going home.

Obviously, spending the night deep in excel instead of deep under your covers isn't just killer for your social life, it also hurts your body — here's what you need to know about how.

It stresses you out.

Your body elevates its levels of cortisol, also known as "the stress hormone" when you don't get enough sleep.



It makes you hungrier and fatter.

There are two opposing hormones in your body that regulate your appetite — leptin and ghrelin. In individuals who lack sleep, the body produces less leptin and more ghrelin which makes you hungrier.

Scientists from Stanford and the University of Wisconsin noticed that after one night of little to no sleep, a person's body mass index increases.



It destroys your ability to concentrate.

According to study in the US National Library of Medicine and National Institute of Health, sleep deprivation affects your brain's frontal lobes, slowing down their communications.

In terms of concentration that means you are impairing your spacial, auditory and visual attention. And forget about doing anything monotonous for a long period of time.



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18 Executives Who Lead By Fear

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gary cohn goldman sachs

Everybody thinks they've had a bad boss.

But few have had one whose mere presence can send people scrambling back to their desks to work through the night.

Some of these people have crossed the line at times. Many others are or were at the top of their fields.

Whether such tactics are worth the results is something that's always up for debate.  

Weinstein Company Co-Chairman Harvey Weinstein

Weinstein's outbursts of rage are legendary in Hollywood and beyond. He once put a reporter of the New York Observer in a headlock before throwing them out of a party.

He's described in a New York Magazine profile as "unbelievably hard on staff." Continuous battles with Disney executive Michael Eisner saw him leave his company, Miramax, in 2005. 



Zynga CEO Mark Pincus

Zynga is not all fun and games. Dealbook's Evelyn Ruseli describes a culture where Pincus obsessively tracks analytics for all staff, sets harsh deadlines, and aggressively pushes his employees to meet them. 

That management style fits the personality of Mr. Pincus, who is described by analyst Michael Pachter as being "driven to the point of a madman." 



Oracle CEO Larry Ellison

Ellison is well-known for his lavish lifestyle. He's also an incredibly aggressive and ruthless executive. A biographer described him as "a modern day Genghis Kahn". 

He's known for his incredibly aggressive and hostile takeover maneuvers. During the takeover of PeopleSoft Ellison pre-announced 5,000 firings and repeatedly insulted the then-CEO. 



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How Google And Android Are Winning The War Against Apple In Mobile Ads

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girl mobile phone cell

The iPhone still serves more mobile ad impressions than any other single smartphone but Google's Android operating system for mobile phones and tablets still dominates Apple's iPhone and iPad devices overall, according to Millennial Media's "Mobile Mix" September 2012 report.

In October of 2011, when the Apple iPhone 4S was released, impressions for the device grew by 200% in one week, and 1,800% after one month. Will the iPhone 5 live up to these numbers or will Samsung split the difference? The numbers should start coming in by the by the end of the week if the trend follows last year's pattern.

Android accounts for nearly half of mobile impressions. Apple's devices account for only a third.



The iPad dominates among ads served on tablets, but Samsung's Galaxy tab is used more than the Amazon Kindle. Of note is the Acer Iconia's at number four. What sets the Acer tablet apart is the built-in USB drives and MicroSD card slots, Millennial says.



Surprise! People still use BlackBerrys. The iPhone is the number one mobile device with 15.85% of impressions, but the Blackberry Curve follows with 4.96% of impressions.



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10 Scientifically Proven Ways To Spice Up Your Sex Life

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couple love phone cameraIt's a rare to find someone who doesn't want to find a way to ramp up his or her sex life.

We're here to help.

We broke down 10 recent scientific studies that found some surprising ways to improve life in the bedroom, from your liquor intake to your furniture color.

Wear red if you want to land a partner in the first place.

It takes two to tango, after all.

A University of Rochester psychologist's study showed that men rated women who wore a shade of crimson as more attractive. The hue of red helped alter the male perception of how attractive the female was, but it didn't change how they rated personality, intelligence, or competence.

"Men also were more likely to say they wanted to have sex with a woman and that they would be willing to spend more on a date if she were in red," according to the report in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.



Practice your downward-facing dog.

A study in India showed that men looking to prolong their orgasm saw improvements after practicing yoga for an hour each day.

The study showed that men were able to triple the amount of time they lasted in the sack after taking up yoga.

The research concluded that the stretching and isometric holds in yoga improved core strength and pelvic muscle control, which helped prolong the time until the male orgasmed.



Speak up in the bedroom.

People who speak up about what they want in bed were more satisfied in bed, a study in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships found.

Those who talked about sex while participating in the act were even more sexually satisfied, the study showed.

If you're afraid to verbalize exactly what you want, start with non-verbal cues to signal to your partner your desires.



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14 Cities Where You Have The Best Chance Of Finding A Job Before The Year Ends

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austin, texas, sxsw, music, street, people

Although the unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent in August, the number of jobs created in the country were well below expectations.

If you're looking for a job, don't be discouraged by these recent numbers. 

Click here to see >

The Manpower Group — an employment service — surveyed more than 18,000 employers in 100 metropolitan areas to find out their projected employment status between October through December 2012. 

Out of the employers surveyed, 17 percent said they expect to add to their workforce; 9 percent expect to cut jobs; and 72 percent think that there won't be any changes to their staff.

All employers that participated in the survey were asked, “How do you anticipate total employment at your location to change in the three months to the end of December 2012 as compared to the current quarter?"

There's still a chance you can find employment before the year ends — especially if you move to one of these metropolitan areas. 

14. New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, Louisiana

Percent of employers that plan to increase hiring: 19

Percent of employers that plan to decrease hiring: 5

Net employment outlook: 14%

Note: Tied with Colorado Springs, Colorado

Source: Manpower Employment Outlook Survey



13. Colorado Springs, Colorado

Percent of employers that plan to increase hiring: 19

Percent of employers that plan to decrease hiring: 5

Net employment outlook: 14%

Note: Tied with New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, Louisiana

Source: Manpower Employment Outlook Survey



12. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wis.

Percent of employers that plan to increase hiring: 20

Percent of employers that plan to decrease hiring: 6

Net employment outlook: 14%

Source: Manpower Employment Outlook Survey



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Stunning, High-Res Photos Of The New Gorgeous iPhone 5 (AAPL)

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iPhone 5 photos 27

Apple unveiled the iPhone 5 today—a slightly larger update to the iPhone lineup.

There weren't a whole lot of surprises, because most of the details about the phone had already leaked onto the Internet by the time it was announced.

Here's the short, short version: bigger phone, more icons, bigger screen, faster processor, better camera and the new operating system.

We've collected a bunch of images of the new device, so you can check it out from every angle.

Let's start with the back—it has a two-tone cover that is super-clear on the edges and a little more subdued in the middle.



The back of the phone is aluminum, compared to the glass on the back of the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4.



The result is more of a unibody feel to the phone, much like Apple's laptops.



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Meet The Marines, Special Agents And Others Who Protect US Diplomats

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Marines Gunfight SAW

Following the wave of unrest in the Muslim world, and the deaths of four Americans, there was furious debate: What caused the unrest? Who is responsible for security? Why don't we have heavy weapons and more U.S. Marines?

We do have Marines, but it turns out their mission is not to protect American lives.

Ultimately, it's the president and the secretary of state who are responsible for maintaining an atmosphere conducive to safe diplomacy.

In an ideal world, kind words would coerce the most savage soul into resting at ease. As we've seen in recent headlines, though, we don't always live in an ideal world.

The first line of defense is the home country's security forces

Look at these guys ... 

The first line of defense is always the local security forces. State department officials frequently, and recently a bit more frequently, cite this as a requirement for maintaining adequate diplomacy between state actors.

Like any relationship requires trust, the U.S. has to trust that its diplomats, its embassies, and its consulates are in good hands. Though the relationship between states may be on the rocks, or up for question, the maintenance of security always shows good faith.

At the annual U.N. summit in a few weeks, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will travel to New York City, and our NYPD and State Department Special Agents will provide for his safety while he travels in the U.S.



State Department Special Agents are responsible for close personal security of diplomats

State Department Special Agents including Marine Security Guards and private contractors, provide personal—as in of the body—security of American diplomats, as well as organizational and intelligence management of "inner" security, where foreign police and military units provide "outer" security—perimeter in other words.

Special Agents are often former military special operators, but it's not a requirement. They must be eligible for what's called a TSSCI clearance, which is Top Secret Security Clearance to Compartmentalized Information—in particular, to travel plans of high-visibility diplomats, like Hillary Clinton.

They organize primarily around a defensive stance, and will more likely flee with the diplomat and abandon the post than stand and fight. The Regional Security Officer is the top dog in every region, responsible for all planning and organization of all other Special Agents and security assets.

The state department does not give out numbers with regards to how many agents are afforded to each post or specific personnel.



There are 1,300 Marine Security Guards stationed at foreign Embassies around the world

Marine Security Guards (MSG) are not heavily armed, and are not responsible for protecting American diplomats.

American diplomats are a secondary mission for MSG Marines. Their primary mission is to safeguard and, given the circumstances, destroy Top Secret documents in the case of their potential compromise. The Marine guards will ditch a diplomat in the dust and smoke in order to protect the American intelligence from falling into the wrong hands.

They typically come in detachments of 12–24 Marines, and must be eligible for Top Secret security clearances. There are rigorous background checks, followed by a six-month MSG school (in addition to primary occupation school), prior to placement at an embassy. Marines cannot have any debt, or former criminal offenses.

In other words, squeaky clean Marines only.



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