Budget Hotels In Miami - Debt Ceiling Wall Of Worry Is Another Reason For U.S. Investing

Source      - http://www.bloomberg.com/
By            - Nick Taborek & Whitney Kisling
Category  - Budget Hotels In Miami
Posted By - Homewood Suites Miami

Budget Hotels In Miami

The U.S. congressional standoff that shut down the government for the first time in 17 years is a buying opportunity for stock investors, if history is any guide. 

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) has risen 11 percent on average in the 12 months following a government shutdown, according to data compiled by Bloomberg on the 12 instances since 1976. That compares with an average return of 9 percent over 12 months. In all the cases, the U.S. equity benchmark was higher by the end of the next two years. 

While the S&P 500 has fallen seven of the past eight days on concern the political deadlock over the U.S. budget and debt limit will hurt the economy, investors at Raymond James & Associates and PNC Wealth Management say equities will recover as profits rise. Analysts’ forecasts show earnings will increase at the fastest pace in two years during the fourth quarter. More than 300 companies in the S&P 500 are scheduled to report results this month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. 

“I’m a buyer on weakness,” Jeff Saut, the St. Petersburg, Florida-based chief investment strategist at Raymond James, said in a phone interview. He helps oversee about $400 billion. “Once it’s in the rearview mirror along with the debt ceiling, the market will start to focus again on the improving economic numbers and improving earnings.” 

The U.S. government will be partially closed today with Congress deadlocked over whether to tie any changes to the 2010 health-care bill to an extension of government funding. Even if the budget fight is resolved, lawmakers would immediately move to the next fiscal dispute over raising the $16.7 trillion debt ceiling.

Stocks Retreat

The S&P 500 slumped 0.6 percent to 1,681.55 yesterday, closing at a three-week low. The U.S. equity benchmark is still up 18 percent this year, on track for the biggest annual increase since 2009. Treasury 10-year note yields fell one basis point to 2.61 percent yesterday, trading at an almost seven-week low, and the dollar weakened against the majority of its most-traded peers. 

The last time there was speculation about a U.S. government shutdown was in August 2011, when the S&P 500 fell more than 11 percent in three days. Stocks tumbled during the stalemate between President Barack Obama and Congress over whether to raise the debt ceiling and S&P stripped the U.S. of its AAA credit rating that month. 

The losses were later reversed, as the Federal Reserve pledged to hold the benchmark interest rate near zero and maintain bond purchases to support the economy. The S&P 500 gained 25 percent in the 12 months through August 2012.

Government Shutdown

“If you go back to the 1990s and the last time we had a government shutdown, that was actually good for the stock market,” said Martin Leclerc, founder of Barrack Yard Advisors LLC, in a phone interview from Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. His firm oversees $230 million. “It seems the market has climbed every wall of worry and every risk that’s out there, the market has seemed to surpass.” 

In the last government shutdown that started in December 1995, the S&P 500 rallied 21 percent in the following year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The U.S. equity benchmark was up 36 percent in the 12 months after a one-day closure in 1982. That was the biggest advance of the 12 instances. 

Stock swings will widen during the shutdown, according to Kristina Hooper, a U.S. investment strategist at Allianz Global Investors in New York. The firm oversees $409 billion. The S&P 500 has declined an average of 0.59 percent during government shutdowns since 1976, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Equity Volatility

“We’ll definitely see more volatility if there is a shutdown, because the majority of the market wasn’t anticipating it as late as last week,” Hooper said in a telephone interview yesterday. “The longer-term picture is positive. We’ll likely work through this relatively quickly.” 

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index (VIX) jumped 7.4 percent to 16.60 yesterday, the highest level in a month. It is still 18 percent below its average since 1990. 

Stocks need to fall further before they become bargains, according to Kevin Caron, a Florham Park, New Jersey-based market strategist at Stifel Nicolaus & Co., which oversees about $150 billion. The S&P 500’s valuation slid to 16.1 times reported operating earnings yesterday, from a three-year high of 16.5 on Sept. 18. The benchmark’s multiple has increased 14 percent this year.

Fair Value

“We haven’t seen a significant correction yet,” Caron said in a phone interview. “We’re right around what we would consider to be fair value for the market.” 

A shutdown of the U.S. government may reduce fourth-quarter economic growth as federal workers from park rangers to telephone receptionists are furloughed, according to Moody’s Analytics Inc. Mark Zandi, chief economist at the firm, has estimated that a three-to-four week shutdown would cut growth by 1.4 percentage points. He projects a 2.5 percent annualized pace of fourth-quarter growth without a shutdown. 

E. William Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC Wealth in Philadelphia, said the gridlock in Congress isn’t likely to weaken the overall economy. Earnings for S&P 500 companies will increase 9.1 percent in the fourth quarter, the biggest expansion since the three months ending September 2011, according to more than 11,000 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. 

Profits have been climbing for the past four years and analysts forecast growth will continue in 2014 and 2015, when they rise more than 10 percent. For the full S&P 500, earnings expanded 1.8 percent last quarter, projections compiled by Bloomberg show. Alcoa Inc. (AA), Yum! Brands Inc. (YUM) and Safeway Inc. (SWY) are among the 316 companies in the S&P 500 scheduled to report in October. 

“It certainly makes sense in our mind to take advantage of these kinds of selloffs,” Stone said by phone yesterday. The firm manages about $119 billion. “At the end of the day you go back and say, does this whole fight really harm the long-term market or the underlying economic picture? And I don’t think it will really have any true impact there.”

Hotels Near Marlins Park - Apps That Make The Most Of iOS 7

Source      - http://www.bostonglobe.com/
By             - Kit Eaton
Category   - Hotels Near Marlins Park
Posted By - Homewood Suites Miami

Hotels Near Marlins Park

Consumers have been lining up worldwide to buy Apple’s new iPhones, even braving a typhoon in Japan.

The new phones are also running on new software, the iOS 7 operating system. If you are among the 9 million people who bought a new iPhone 5S or 5C during the first weekend of sales, or have just updated your old device’s software, you will want to try some new apps that make the most of the new capabilities.

Infinity Blade III

$7 on iOS

One of the best tests for the new iPhones is the graphically intensive game Infinity Blade III. It’s a 3-D fantasy-battle game in which you fight your way through a mystical world, slashing with a sword controlled by finger swipes.

The game is exciting, and the graphics are its most impressive feature. They are highly detailed and are about the same quality as graphics on a gaming PC a few years ago. Infinity Blade III’s battles are a little repetitive, but the game is remarkable enough to warrant its $7 price.

TiltShiftGen 2

$1 on iOS

Testing the new smartphones’ camera is also a must.

But no matter how good the camera is, there’s always room for improvement.

A cool photo-effects app is TiltShiftGen 2, which adds a special distortion to a photograph so it looks like an image of a miniature or model, instead of a photo of the real world.

The app looks great on iOS 7, and the controls are all simple, with intuitive gestures.

TiltShiftGen is just $1.

Soundwave

Free on iOS

Apple’s own music-playing app is built into iOS, but for a different experience, try checking out the free Soundwave app.

This app is about discovering new music via a social network.

For example, it can show music that your Facebook friends have played recently.

More exciting is the “music map” feature, where you draw a circle on a map of your current location and the app tells you what people are listening to in that area.

You can even hear snippets of music, so you can decide if you’d like to buy it later.

Finally, remember to check out the “near me” tab in Apple’s App Store app, which may uncover many more cool new apps that people nearby have downloaded.

Suites Near University Of Miami - A Perfect iPhone App For Investors And Traders

Source       - http://blogs.marketwatch.com/
By             - Cody Willard
Category    - Suites Near University Of Miami
Posted By  - Homewood Suites Miami

Suites Near University Of Miami

Let’s continue our “quest for gestalt” with another round up of key headlines and some Revolution Investing commentary to go with ‘em.

Scutify.com – If you haven’t checked out the site or the Scutify iPhone app, I highly suggest you do so. In full disclosure I liked the Scutify platform so much that I acquired the company and merged it with my WallStreetAllStars.com. I actually got half of today’s headlines from the Scutify ticker news feeds and have also gotten some great trading ideas in there too. The iPhone app itself just hit #16 in the Apple App Store “Top Charts” finance section.

Bogle: Why you should ignore record market highs - I don’t agree with John Bogle here at all. Prices and timing matter and to ignore that is folly. I think you should still be net long here, but I have already trimmed down my net long exposure from the 2010 and 2011 and 2012 levels when prices were lower. And just as importantly, I plan on getting net short again at some point when this stock market bubble finally gets ready to pop. Speaking of which…

Hulbert: Twitter IPO top of a bubble? Mark says it’s not. Funny, see this that I wrote just last: Twitter IPO will signal top of the bubble - I wrote in that article that “Twitter’s recent IPO filing means we are definitely getting much closer to the top of the App Stock Bubble than we are to the bottom. In fact, I would expect that we’ll see the top of the App Revolution Stock Bubble just a few months after the Twitter IPO.”

BlackBerry Patents Key to Raising Buyout Debt - I don’t think BBRY’s patents are worth $4 billion, but then again, do you remember this? AOL Sells 800 Patents For $1.1 Billion To Microsoft. I’d imagine there’s more value in BlackBerry patents than in the old AOL patents. Regardless, as I wrote yesterday in How to trade BlackBerry now that it’s being taken out, “The point is, this is the end of the road for the BlackBerry BBRY  bears and shorts like me.”

Robert Reich, Inequality’s Intellectual Fraudster - I was asked about this and Robert Reich on Twitter yesterday and I answered, “I’ve been on TV several times with Robert. He’s the Democrat Ben Stein. Everybody who served under any recent POTUS are hypocrites at best.”

Five Tonnes of Customer Gold Leave the HSBC Vault - I’ve been citing this dramatic collapse in gold inventories for the last few months. There’s an end game in there somewhere and I think it’s going to result in a reset of gold at higher prices. Maybe 3-12 months still of games to play though.

‘Family glitch’ in health law could be painful - The only thing simple about Obamacare is that it is simply another method for corporations to profiteer on the public.

Speaking at UN, Obama Tries to Claim He Was Always For Diplomacy in Syria  – The Syrian story has gone to the back pages, but I would expect it to hit the headlines again in the next few months. It didn’t make any sense how Obama tried to talk us into a Bush-like logic to go to war in the first place. Why would we think he and whoever is guiding him have suddenly gotten rational?

Petition | Congress: Revoke the Tax-Exempt Status of the NFL – Did someone mention methods that giant corporations use to profiteer on the public?

Alibaba Is Said to Move Toward an I.P.O. in the U.S. - The 13-digit valuation (more than $100 billion) at which Alibaba is coming public is another sign of the bubble.

And if you’ve got an iPhone or an iPad be sure to check out the best app for traders and investors — visit Scutify.com or download the Scutify app and let me know if you agree with me that it’s the best app for traders and investors that you’ve ever used.

Affordable Vacations In Miami - First Computer Made Of Carbon Nanotubes Is Unveiled

Source      - http://www.bbc.co.uk/
By            - James Morgan
Category  - Affordable Vacations In Miami
Posted By - Homewood Suites Miami

Affordable Vacations In Miami

The first computer built entirely with carbon nanotubes has been unveiled, opening the door to a new generation of digital devices.

"Cedric" is only a basic prototype but could be developed into a machine which is smaller, faster and more efficient than today's silicon models.

Nanotubes have long been touted as the heir to silicon's throne, but building a working computer has proven awkward.

The breakthrough by Stanford University engineers is published in Nature.

Cedric is the most complex carbon-based electronic system yet realised. 

So is it fast? Not at all. It might have been in 1955.

The computer operates on just one bit of information, and can only count to 32.

"In human terms, Cedric can count on his hands and sort the alphabet. But he is, in the full sense of the word, a computer," says co-author Max Shulaker.

"There is no limit to the tasks it can perform, given enough memory".

In computing parlance, Cedric is "Turing complete". In principle, it could be used to solve any computational problem.

It runs a basic operating system which allows it to swap back and forth between two tasks - for instance, counting and sorting numbers.

And unlike previous carbon-based computers, Cedric gets the answer right every time.

Imperfection-immune

 

"People have been talking about a new era of carbon nanotube electronics, but there have been few demonstrations. Here is the proof," said Prof Subhasish Mitra, lead author on the study.

The Stanford team hopes their achievement will galvanise efforts to find a commercial successor to silicon chips, which could soon encounter their physical limits.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are hollow cylinders composed of a single sheet of carbon atoms.

They have exceptional properties which make them ideal as a semiconductor material for building transistors, the on-off switches at the heart of electronics.

For starters, CNTs are so thin - thousands could fit side-by-side in a human hair - that it takes very little energy to switch them off.

"Think of it as stepping on a garden hose. The thinner the pipe, the easier it is to shut off the flow," said HS Philip Wong, co-author on the study.

But while single-nanotube transistors have been around for 15 years, no-one had ever put the jigsaw pieces together to make a useful computing device.

So how did the Stanford team succeed where others failed? By overcoming two common bugbears which have bedevilled carbon computing.

First, CNTs do not grow in neat, parallel lines. "When you try and line them up on a wafer, you get a bowl of noodles," says Mitra.

The Stanford team built chips with CNTs which are 99.5% aligned - and designed a clever algorithm to bypass the remaining 0.5% which are askew.

They also eliminated a second type of imperfection - "metallic" CNTs - a small fraction of which always conduct electricity, instead of acting like semiconductors that can be switched off.

To expunge these rogue elements, the team switched off all the "good" CNTs, then pumped the remaining "bad" ones full of electricity - until they vaporised. The result is a functioning circuit.

The Stanford team call their two-pronged technique "imperfection-immune design". Its greatest trick? You don't even have to know where the imperfections lie - you just "zap" the whole thing.

"These are initial necessary steps in taking carbon nanotubes from the chemistry lab to a real environment," said Supratik Guha, director of physical sciences for IBM's Thomas J Watson Research Center.

But hang on - what if, say, Intel, or another chip company, called up and said "I want a billion of these". Could Cedric be scaled up and factory-produced?

In principle, yes: "There is no roadblock", says Franz Kreupl, of the Technical University of Munich in Germany.

"If research efforts are focused towards a scaled-up (64-bit) and scaled-down (20-nanometre transistor) version of this computer, we might soon be able to type on one."

Shrinking the transistors is the next challenge for the Stanford team. At a width of eight microns they are fatter than today's most advanced silicon chips.

But while it may take a few years to achieve this gold standard, it is now only a matter of time - there is no technological barrier, said Max Shulaker.

"In terms of size, IBM has already demonstrated a nine-nanometre CNT transistor.

"And as for manufacturing, our design is compatible with current industry processes. We used the same tools as Intel, Samsung or whoever.

"So the billions of dollars invested into silicon has not been wasted, and can be applied for CNTs."

For 40 years we have been predicting the end of silicon. Perhaps that end is now in sight.

Trip To Miami - Remote Controls, Without The AAA Batteries

Source       - http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/
By             - MATTHEW L. WALD
Category   - Trip To Miami
Posted By - Homewood Suites Miami

Trip To Miami

Smartphones, tablets and other portable devices that need electricity rely on batteries that use a chemical reaction. But Maxwell Technologies, a company in San Diego, announced Tuesday that it was providing devices for television remote controls that store electricity without chemicals.

The devices, called ultracapacitors, are a little smaller than the two AAA batteries they will replace. They can recharge within minutes and have a life span that will probably outlast the remote control, said Michael W. Sund, a spokesman for the company.

Maxwell said it was approached by Celadon, a company that makes remote controls for set-top boxes, with a request for a power system that could work with a remote control.

Ultracapacitors are used in many devices, particularly in manufacturing, but they have only pushed out bursts of energy, and basic storage has remained in the chemical battery. The ultracapacitors store energy by putting an electric charge — positive or negative, on plates that are separated by an insulator.

Engineers have experimented with the use of capacitors in hybrid and electric cars, where they could provide energy for quick acceleration and recapture the energy generated when a car slows down. Maxwell already sells giant capacitors for use in hybrid transit buses that need to capture energy when they come to a stop. The capacitors in the buses also deliver energy to help get the wheels moving.

But using capacitors to provide a steady flow of energy is something new. Still, like other capacitors, the new ones can be recharged quickly. The remote control can recharge in five minutes and run for many hours, maybe even days, depending on how often it is used to change channels, Mr. Sund said. And unlike the lithium-ion batteries used in phones, laptops and, now cars, capacitors do not lose storage space with age.

“The speed of charge is an advantage,” Mr. Sund said. “If you forget to plug it in, it’s just a few minutes.”

The Energy Department’s Advanced Research Project Administration – Energy, an energy version of the better-known Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, is enthusiastic about capacitors, and is financing several projects that use it.

Comparing a capacitors’ energy storage characteristics to those of a chemical battery is a bit like comparing the water storage capability of a pitcher with that of a roll of paper towels. A paper towel, like a chemical battery, takes a little time to soak up the water and never quite gives it all back — and over time, its ability to store water breaks down. The pitcher can be repeatedly filled quickly and emptied quickly or slowly.

So far, no one can build a capacitor that meets the requirements of a smartphone, Mr. Sund said. But his company is working on one that would be an adjunct to a smartphone battery, providing energy for the camera flash, a weak spot in current smartphones.

And more capable capacitors are on the way. Maxwell uses a layer of carbon on an aluminum substrate, where the charged particles can be stored. But researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, are working on a model that uses a single layer of carbon atoms.

Golf Resort In Miami - Man uses planetarium show to Propose To Girlfriend

Source      - http://www.upi.com/
By            - WARNER ROBINS
Category  - Golf Resort In Miami
Posted By - Homewood Suites Miami

Golf Resort In Miami

A Georgia man said the hardest part of proposing to his girlfriend was maneuvering her into the planetarium show where he had inserted the question.

Alan Gilbert, 23, of Warner Robins, said he wanted to propose to girlfriend Krystal Sanderson, 22, during the Mark Smith Planetarium show at the Museum of Arts & Sciences, so he set to work making sure she would be at Sunday's 4 p.m. show, The Macon (Ga.) Telegraph reported Monday.

"The main thing is, Krystal and I spent a lot of time looking at the stars," Gilbert said. "They were always one of those moments where we could talk about anything we wanted to."

Gilbert said Sanderson, who works with a campus nursing organization, almost had to go to work Sunday, but he insisted she visit the museum with him, instead.

Gilbert said he hit a second hiccup when Sanderson wanted to see the 2 p.m. planetarium show instead of the 4 p.m. show, which had his marriage proposal attached at the end of the 30-minute show about prehistoric sea creatures.

Gilbert said he was able to convince Sanderson to tour the facility before attending the 4 p.m. show, then all he had to do was wait.

"The movie, the documentary, was the longest 30 minutes of my life," Gilbert said.

When the film ended, Gilbert's question appeared on the screen and he presented Sanderson with a ring surrounded in glow sticks to make sure she could see it in the dark.

Sanderson accepted.

"I was so shocked when I saw my name," she said. "It was like, 'Oh my goodness!'"

Hotels Near Doral Golf Resort - Hackers Claim To Have Defeated Apple's Fingerprint Security

Source      - http://www.forbes.com/
By            - Joseph Steinberg
Category   - Hotels Near Doral Golf Resort
Posted By - Homewood Suites Miami

Hotels Near Doral Golf Resort

Just one day after the new fingerprint-scanning Apple AAPL -1.07%iPhone-5s was released to the public, hackers claimed to have defeated the new security mechanism. After their announcement on Saturday night, the Chaos Computer Club posted a video on YouTube which appears to show a user defeating Apple’s new TouchID security by using a replicated fingerprint.

Apple has not yet commented on this matter, and, as far as I can tell, no third-party agency has publicly validated the video or the hacker group’s claim. In theory, the techniques used should not have defeated the sub-dermal analysis (analyzing three dimensional unique aspects of fingerprints rather than just two-dimensional surface images) that Apple was supposed to have used in its fingerprint scanner, but, as I mentioned in my article last week (Your New iPhone Can Put Your Identity At Risk), systems are not always implemented exactly as planned, and there are sometimes exploitable vulnerabilities that people may be strongly incented to find.

The video posted by the hacker group does not show the preparation of the replicated print used to inappropriately authenticate. In fact, the video may make the process of defeating the security seem far simpler than it is – creating a replicated print similar to the one the hackers apparently used to defeat the fingerprint sensor involves some work; lifting and printing a high-resolution mirror image of a print onto a surface (which seems to be what was done based on the video) is not something that the average user can easily do today. However, as I noted last week, if criminals stand to make significant money by doing so, they will quickly acquire the skills and the resources needed to achieve their goal.

Hence, if the technique claimed by the hackers is found to work (even if it works only some of the time), there is serious risk to any user using fingerprint authentication on its own. Coupled with the other risks that I described last week, as well as with the possibility that fingerprints and forced fingerprint authentication may not be protected by the Fifth Amendment, this new revelation makes me even more certain in my concerns about fingerprint authentication on smartphones.

Holiday In Miami - Buyers Rue High Price Of New 'Low Cost' iPhone

Source      - http://news.yahoo.com/
By             - Press Release
Category   - Holiday In Miami
Posted By - Homewood Suites Miami

Holiday In Miami

Apple acolytes in Asia kicked off the global rollout of two new iPhones Friday, but complaints about its high price and no new alliance in the vast Chinese market threatened to dampen the mood.

The once-unbeatable king of the smartphones was brandishing a potentially lucrative new deal with Japan's biggest mobile carrier, but was without any new partnership in China.

That, and rumblings over the high cost -- even of the pared-down iPhone 5C -- looked set to mute the fanfare that routinely accompanies launches, observers say.

The double debut kicked off in Australia when stores threw open their doors to crowds at 8:00 am (2200 GMT Thursday).

Jimmy Gunawan, 33, was first in line at the company's flagship Sydney store, but was surprised he only had to stake his place 20 hours earlier.

"Last year, I got here around the same time and there was already a queue of about 20 people," the freelance graphic designer said.

In Tokyo, diehard fans began lining up last week and even sat out a weekend typhoon to keep their spot in a queue that grew to around a kilometre (half-a-mile) in length by opening time, police estimated.

Media helicopters hovered over the Japanese capital, where Batman was among those outside the Apple store in Ginza.

Actor Ken Watanabe, star of "Inception" and "Letters From Iwo Jima", was on hand to welcome buyers at Docomo's main Tokyo shop, marking the new alliance between Apple and the country's biggest carrier.

The firm, which has about 42 percent of the Japanese market, has shed more than 3.5 million subscribers to rivals since 2008, when SoftBank first rolled out the iPhone in Japan, local media have reported.

Hisako Nagashima, a 34-year-old manicurist who was waiting to snap up an iPhone 5S in gold, said it had been make-or-break time for her relationship with the company.

"If NTT Docomo had not released iPhone this time, I would have changed carriers," she told AFP.All three Japanese carriers were offering both models "free" with two-year contracts.

But in places where up-front payments are more common, there was griping over the steep asking price.

"Wow, $1,129 (US$1,065) for an iPhone 5S here in Australia. That's simply insane," tweeted Bill Hutchison, referring to the cost of a 64GB model of the new version, which boasts a speedier processor and a fingerprint sensor.

Another, David Smith, tweeted: "Incredible -- Apple charging $99 for iPhone 5C in the USA (with a contract) but $740 in Australia and its $1,200 for 5S - no wonder Android phones are popular."

The polycarbonate-bodied 5C, supposedly aimed at budget-conscious smartphone shoppers, was widely trailed as Apple's answer to the onslaught of cheaper, Android-powered models, led by Samsung.

But its hefty $700 ticket price in China will put it out of reach of most consumers in the world's biggest mobile market.

"It's not worth the price," said Wang Ying, a Beijing-based analyst with consultant firm iResearch. Many domestically made smartphones are priced as low as $100.

Apple has not revealed what the "C" stands for, but did not knock down months of media speculation that it was intended to signify "cheap" or "China".

In an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, published Thursday, Apple chief executive Tim Cook countered that quality had always been the driving force.

"We never had an objective to sell a low-cost phone," Cook told the magazine. "Our primary objective is to sell a great phone and provide a great experience, and we figured out a way to do it at a lower cost."

Analyst Wang said Apple also appeared to have missed a trick by not reaching a deal with China Mobile and its 700 million subscribers -- the country's largest carrier.

Currently, Apple has sales contracts with China Unicom and China Telecom.

"Cooperating with China Mobile will be a significant channel for Apple to... win more users."

Despite their simultaneous availability in China -- the first time Apple has brought the country online in the initial wave -- Hong Kong's resellers were pouncing, hoping to flip the phones for as much as double what they paid.

"Handsome boy, are you selling your phones?" a reseller was heard discreetly saying, before leading new iPhone 5S owners to the back stairs of the shopping mall to carry out the transaction.

The much-coveted gold-coloured iPhone, which resellers thought would attract a real premium in status-conscious Hong Kong, was nowhere to be found.

"I haven't seen a gold one yet," a reseller, who declined to give his name, told AFP an hour into the launch.

He said he would sell the 16 gigabyte model of the phone for "at least HK$8000 ($1,031)", while another reseller said he would sell the same model for almost double the HK$5,588 ticket price.

Hotels Near Marlins Park - How Your Parents Impact Your Relationships

Source      - http://www.womenshealthmag.com/
By            - Faye Brennan
Category  - Hotels Near Marlins Park
Posted By - Homewood Suites Miami

Hotels Near Marlins Park

Your family relationships are likely being steered, in part, by the way you've experienced your parents' rapport (or lack thereof). These questions can shed light on where some of your impulses stem from.

Who Ruled The Roost?
One person wears the pants in most twosomes, says therapist Chana Levitan, M.Sc., author of I Only Want to Get Married Once. Say it was your father. You might be most attracted to authoritative men (even if you weren't a fan of Dad's strict style). And if you end up with a tenderheart, you might subconsciously pressure him to toughen up.

Do Mom and Dad Depend on You?
If you're used to being the problem-solver, you could be playing that role for everyone in your life, says Kavita J. Patel, a love and relationship coach in New York City. You might lean toward "fixer-upper" guys who seem like they need your help to be happy.

Were Your Folks Into PDA?
If so, chances are you're pretty comfortable with intimacy—in the bedroom and out, says Levitan. If, however, your parents were the hands-off type, you might feel weirded out when a guy gets cuddly (or tries to plant one on you in public).

Were They Hypercritical?
If they both were, you probably are too. But if only one was, things get interesting, says Patel. Let's say your mom forever picked on your dad, and you felt closer to him; you may now not criticize your guy for fear of hurting him. But if you were closer to your mom, you may be inadvertently following her lead.

Suites Near International Dolphin Mall - Does Apple Really Need a Less-Expensive iPhone Right Now?

Source      - http://allthingsd.com/
By            - John Paczkowski
Category   - Suites Near International Dolphin Mall
Posted By - Homewood Suites Miami

Suites Near International Dolphin Mall

Apple’s decision to give its colorful new iPhone 5c a premium price far in excess of the $400 to $500 price range analysts had expected has been met with skepticism in the market, and the company’s stock price has suffered some as a result.

Read through the volley of research notes that followed the debut of the 5c, and a common theme emerges: Apple should have used the device to establish a new iPhone price band low enough to drive growth in big, price-sensitive markets like China. But it chose not to, essentially doubling down on the market’s increasingly more saturated higher end, and protecting its high margins. And, in doing so, it has — for the time being — forfeited the market’s massive not-at-all-saturated lower end to Android.

The market views that as a strategic misstep. But Apple clearly doesn’t. Because, for Apple, winning has never been about shipping the most product.

“That’s never been a cornerstone of Apple,” CEO Tim Cook said at D11 earlier this year. “Arguably, we make the best PC, we don’t make the most. We make the best music player, we wound up making the most. We make the best tablet, we’re making the most there today. We make the best phone, we’re not making the most phones. … iPad has the highest customer satisfaction of any tablet. iPhone has the highest customer satisfaction of any phone and it has won JD Powers nine times in a row now. So that’s what we’re about. We’re about enriching customer’s lives and making great products, not making the most.”

Okay. But if Apple’s not going to cut prices (and corners) in a land grab for market share, how does it propose to succeed in a country like China, which it has said repeatedly is one of its most important markets? Perhaps by simply staying the course, and inking that long-in-the offing China Mobile deal. 

With the iPhone 5c, Apple may have an upper-middle-tier product with enough aspirational appeal to draw budget-conscious consumers into a higher price range. Add to that the addressable market it stands to gain simply by inking that widely rumored distribution deal with China Mobile — the world’s largest wireless carrier, and perhaps Apple decided it’s simply not yet the time to move down-market.

Why bother chasing lower-margin phone sales when there’s still a significant opportunity in high-margin ones? Why bother fielding a less-expensive iPhone when you know you’re about to bring the device to China Mobile’s 700 million subscribers, not to mention the 60 million consumers on Japan’s NTT DoCoMo? Don’t forget, Apple continues to sell the two-year-old iPhone 4S for a lower price than its new marquee phones.

“It could be that Apple is willing to stake out the high end and wait for the emerging global middle market to be able to afford its phones,” UBS’s Steve Milunovich. “While the 5C is too expensive for most developing markets, there still is an aspiration to own Apple products. … Exclusiveness creates its own demand.”

Perhaps even enough to obviate the need for that less-expensive iPhone for which the market seems to be pining. We’ll find out soon enough.

Miami Airport Hotels - Businesses Use New Apps For Workplace Scheduling

Source       - http://online.wsj.com/
By             - LAUREN WEBER
Category   - Miami Airport Hotels
Posted By  - Homewood Suites Miami

Miami Airport Hotels

Say you own a thriving bakery that's open 12 hours a day, seven days a week, and you have nine full-time employees and 11 part-timers. The shop is busiest between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. and then again from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. How many people do you need on the noon to 6 p.m. shift?

It's a problem that could flummox even someone who aced advanced calculus.

Fortunately, scores of software programs are available to help businesses manage their scheduling conundrums. 

Enterprises with thousands of hourly workers can purchase customized software with lots of bells and whistles, and now there are cloud-based solutions available even to companies with a handful of employees.

The biggest name in the "workforce management" software business, Kronos Inc., offers a product called Workforce Ready that allows small employers to start out with a single application, such as basic scheduling, and then add extra features, from calculating accrued time off to administering payroll. Kronos's more sophisticated product, Workforce Central, lets larger employers oversee a complex multistate or global employee base.

Following the Rules

Staying on top of federal, state and, when necessary, international labor laws is one of the biggest advantages of automating the scheduling process. Many software programs will incorporate those regulations and update automatically if any rules change. Many also allow for the program to be customized based on company-specific rules or union contracts.

That's especially valuable for businesses with some complexity to them. Sabre Holdings Corp., the parent of Travelocity, uses Workforce Central to manage hours for thousands of employees across the globe. Because the application is flexible and easy to use, says Jeanne Jackson, who directs payroll and oversees the Kronos program, Sabre has been able to "react to acquisitions and changes in legislation in the U.S. and outside the country that impact how we capture and report time."

Because they can monitor workers' hours better than traditional methods, the programs also allow employers to keep closer track of employees—reducing overtime, for instance, and syncing up with electronic time clocks to monitor tardiness and break times. 

And scheduling programs offer the ability to integrate with payroll software to tally workers' paychecks, which helps reduce the simple mathematical errors that can plague manual scheduling and payroll processes.

To the Quarter Hour

There are benefits for workers as well. Dayforce software from Ceridian Corp. allows employees to view their schedules online, swap shifts with co-workers and record their availability.

Guitar Center Inc., a music-instrument retailer with around 240 locations, began using Dayforce in 2010 after years of managing schedules with Excel spreadsheets. Now "we load [customer] traffic and transactions in 15-minute intervals into Dayforce, and it generates labor-demand curves that let each store know how many people they should staff for every 15 minutes," says Chris Salles, who oversaw the implementation and is now director of e-learning at the company, based in Westlake Village, Calif.

Extended Stay In Miami - 5 Questions To Ask Before Buying A New iPhone

Source      - http://www.informationweek.com/
By             - Eric Zeman
Category   - Extended Stay In Miami
Posted By - Homewood Suites Miami

Extended Stay In Miami

The Apple iPhone 5c is already available for preorder online, and both the 5c and iPhone 5s will hit retail stores September 20. They are in many ways exciting smartphones that bring compelling new features to the table. The 5c is available in a handful of colors and starts at just $99. The 5s adds a champagne hue to the mix and makes significant improvements to the processor and the camera. 

Shiny and new as it may be, a new iPhone isn't necessarily for everyone. Here are five questions to ask before you jump aboard the iPhone bandwagon. 

Am I eligible for an upgrade?

Smartphones are expensive. If you're at the end of your contract and are eligible for an upgrade, you'll be able to purchase the iPhone 5s or 5c at the lowest possible retail price: $199 for the 16GB 5s and $99 for the 16GB 5c. (Want more storage? You'll pay more.) If you're in the middle of your contract and not eligible for an upgrade, you're going to pay a whole lot more for that new iPhone -- possibly as much as the full $549/$649 retail price. Though everyone has their own budget for new toys, shelling out full price for an iPhone will be painful. 

Can I trade in my old phone?

Yes and no. Some stores, such as BestBuy and Walmart, will accept trade-ins. To get some cash at BestBuy or Walmart for your old device, however, you must be willing to sign a new contract with one of the four major network operators: AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, or Verizon. Some third-party stores will let you trade the device in even if you're in the middle of your contract, but carrier stores probably won't. This is something that will vary widely by carrier and store. Your best chance to offset the price of a new device is to sell your old one. The problem is, you can't sell a device that's still on contract -- you must own it outright.

What is the new iPhone really going to give me?

This depends on the device you're switching from. If you're on an older iPhone 4 or 4S, there are plenty of reasons to upgrade. If you're on an iPhone 5, the incentive isn't so great. The iPhone 4 and 4S, for example, have older cameras (5mp for iPhone 4, 8mp for iPhone 4S), no LTE 4G, and smaller screens. Updating to the iPhone 5s or 5c will improve all three of those features. The iPhone 5, however, has LTE and the same screen as the iPhone 5s/5c. Jumping from the iPhone 5 to the 5c or 5s doesn't make too much sense, as the increase in hardware performance is not as significant as if you're upgrading from an iPhone 4 or 4S.

Can I get the new iPhone features on my older iPhone?

You bet! Many of the new features for the iPhone 5c and 5s are baked into the operating system, iOS 7. The iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S will both have access to iOS 7 and all the features therein. iOS 7 adds hundreds of new features to both new and old iOS devices alike. You'll be missing out only on the new hardware-specific features, such as the camera or processor.

Can I switch if I'm coming from another platform?

If you're currently using an Android, BlackBerry or Windows-based device, don't fret too much. There are definitely tradeoffs between all the mobile platforms, but Apple's ecosystem is one of the strongest. It has hundreds of thousands of apps -- including any app you might be worried about leaving behind on your old device -- and more third-party accessories and add-ons than any other device. Things such as your contacts, emails, and photos can be transferred easily from your old device to a new iPhone.

Buying a new iPhone will be easier and cheaper if you're coming from an older iPhone that is eligible for an upgrade. You'll enjoy the improvements more and won't spend as much cash to get the new smartphone. If you're stuck in the middle of a contact, however, consider trading or selling some old gear to offset the cost of the new device. 

Airport Hotels In Miami - Like a Good Wine: How Your Age Affects Your Hangover

Source      - http://news.yahoo.com/
By            -  Rachael Rettner
Category   - Airport Hotels In Miami
Posted By - Homewood Suites Miami

Airport Hotels In Miami

Contrary to popular belief, older people are less likely to report experiencing a hangover after a night of drinking, according to a new study from Denmark.

The study surveyed nearly 52,000 people ages 18 to 94 on their drinking habits, including how often they experienced symptoms of a hangover (such as nausea, headache, heart racing and vomiting) after binge drinking, defined as consuming more than five alcoholic drinks on a single occasion.

The occurrence of a hangover after binge drinking decreased with age, the researchers said.

For instance, the odds of experiencing a hangover after binge drinking were 11 times higher among men ages 18 to 29 compared to men ages 60 and over. For women, the odds of experiencing a hangover were eight times higher among those ages 18 to 29 compared to those ages 60 and over. 

Hangover symptoms also varied with people's age, with older people reporting fewer hangover symptoms after binge drinking compared to younger people. About 10 percent of men and 21 percent of women ages 18 to 29 said they experienced nausea after binge drinking, compared to 1.5 percent of men and 3 percent of women ages 60 and over.

The results held even after the researchers took into account participants' usual alcohol intake, and the frequency of their binge drinking. Average alcohol intake was similar between the old and young — about 14 to 15 drinks per week — but younger people reported engaging in binge drinking more often.

Older people may be less likely to experience hangover symptoms after binge drinking because they simply drink less in a given binge, the researchers said. A recent study in the United States found that, among binge drinkers, those ages 18 to 24 consumed an average of nine drinks per binge, while those ages 65 and older consumed an average of six drinks.

"It seems likely that older adults who binge do so to a lesser intensity than younger adults and consequently experience fewer and less-severe hangovers," the researchers write in the study, published online today (Sept. 12) in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

Older people may be more adept at knowing how to avoid or reduce hangover symptoms, for instance, by consuming water after drinking alcohol, or choosing alcohols that are lighter in color, the researchers said.

It's also possible that people who are more prone to hangovers quit drinking as they get older. The study did not include people who said they did not drink alcohol at all.

The researchers noted that the study was based on survey data, and defined binge drinking as five or more drinks, so it could not assess whether hangover symptoms vary across ages for a given amount of alcohol. Future studies should look at this question, the researchers said.

Suites In Miami - Are Men With Smaller Testicles Really 'Better' Fathers?

Source      - http://www.forbes.com/
By             - Press Release
Category   - Suites In Miami
Posted By  - Homewood Suites Miami

Suites In Miami

A new study, reporting that “better” fathers have smaller testicles, is creating a stir, probably in part for the number of jokes it inspires. Time’s headline is “Study: Choose dads with smaller ‘nads.” CNN commented on the fittingness of the study’s publication in the journal known as PNAS (say it in your head and you’ll get the joke), the nickname for Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. But there’s an actual point to the study: Men make “decisions” about where to put their energy resources – into “wooing” or into parenting – and testes size does seem to have something to do with it. The problem is that the study defines being a “good” father rather narrowly, so the study’s relevance to real life is completely up for grabs.

Studies in other primates have found that testicle size is linked to different “lifestyles”: Smaller testes are often seen in species whose males are more involved in the offspring, like gorillas, whereas larger ones are seen in the more “promiscuous” species, like chimpanzees. So the authors of the current study, out of Emory University, wanted to see if the same trend is seen within a single primate species: Humans. And since men who are more involved in their kids’ lives and development tend to have kids who are more successful in several realms, the study does have some larger sociological relevance.

In the study, the researchers had 70 fathers of kids one to two years old look at pictures of their own children, as well as unfamiliar children and adults, while undergoing MRI scans. The wives of the fathers also filled out questionnaires to rate how involved the dads were in raising their kids – for example, how often they changed diapers, stayed home from work if the child was sick, and fed and bathed the child. Testicle size and testosterone levels were measures to see what connections might be.

It turned out that men who were more involved in their kids’ upbringings had smaller testicles and lower testosterone levels.

What’s more, an area of the brain called the ventral tegmental area (VTA), which is thought to be involved in parental motivation, was activated more in these men. “The men with smaller testes were activating this brain region to a greater extent when looking at photos of their own child,” says study author Jennifer Mascaro, who did the research as part of her post-doctoral training.

Therefore, the authors speculate that testosterone might be linked to the “precopulartory” (or “wooing”) phase, but that testes size is linked to life after sex – life as a parent. In fact, testicle size seems to be more about sperm-production than testosterone production, since most of the interior of testes is made of seminiferous tubules, which pump out sperm. Therefore, this inverse relationship represents a “trade-off between spermatogenesis, a form of mating effort, and parental care.”

But as with any study, there are caveats, and in this one there are a lot.

First, it is a correlation, and it wasn’t a perfect one, which means men aren’t off the hook when it comes to parental involvement. “The fact that we found this variance suggests personal choice,” study author James Rilling says. “Even though some men may be built differently, perhaps they are willing themselves to be more hands-on fathers. It might be more challenging for some men to do these kinds of caregiving activities, but that by no means excuses them.” Practicing any behavior can often overcome a natural disinclination toward it, and parenting is no exception.

The other point to keep in mind is that there’s no evidence that testes size actually causes good or bad parenting behavior – in fact, it could very well be the opposite. Maybe the act of being a very involved father results in these changes in physiology. ”We’re assuming that testes size drives how involved the fathers are,” Rilling says, “but it could also be that when men become more involved as caregivers, their testes shrink. Environmental influences can change biology. We know, for instance, that testosterone levels go down when men become involved fathers.” The same could be true for testicle size.

The other big caveat, as the authors point out, is that only direct forms of childhood care were studied – like diaper-changing. Other forms, which may be even more important – like protecting a child in various ways, earning an income to give them better life, coaching little league, or teaching life lessons – were not studied. It could be that all of these things, which are hugely important aspects of caring for a child, could have other physiological correlates from what was seen in this study. In other words, we have no idea whether being a “good” father as defined in this study really matters in the grand scheme of things.

So, if your spouse has big testicles, don’t despair. The nature vs. nurture debate is often fruitless, and life is more about how the two work together than how either one predicts our behavior. While the study gives some hints as to how biology and psychology interact, the last thing we need is another measurement to worry about, especially at the expense of learning how to be a good parent.

Hotels Near Marlins Park - U.S. Wins And Secures Spot In World Cup

Source      - http://www.nytimes.com/
By            - ANDREW KEH
Category  - Hotels Near Marlins Park
Posted By - Homewood Suites Miami

Hotels Near Marlins Park

Smoke and white confetti wafted across the crammed stands, engulfing fans here Tuesday night as they bounced shoulder-to-shoulder, screaming. 

“You’re not going to Brazil,” was the singsong chant, addressed to the Mexican team. The song and celebration marked Eddie Johnson’s 49th-minute goal, which cut the tension inside a roaring Columbus Crew Stadium. 

Almost 30 minutes later, Landon Donovan tapped home the Americans’ second goal, extending a tradition at this stadium, against this opponent. The United States had defeated Mexico here, 2-0, in their three previous World Cup qualifying cycles: 2001, 2005 and 2009. And they did it again Tuesday night, weathering an early storm from a desperate Mexican squad before Johnson and Donovan delivered the killer blows to delight an announced crowd of 25,584. 

“Dos a cero!” the American fans yelled, over and over, the songs telling the story. 

After their result was secured, the American players watched inside their locker room as Honduras and Panama finished a 2-2 draw, ensuring an automatic qualifying spot for the United States at the 2014 World Cup. The players ran back onto the field, some barefooted, to celebrate again alongside the remaining fans. 

“Obviously they’re enjoying this moment,” Coach Jurgen Klinsmann said about his players. “It’s a special moment when you qualify for a World Cup, and they really deserve it.” 

The United States has now qualified for seven straight World Cups. This time, they experienced some early hiccups and tentative performances before coalescing as a team over the summer. Players now are touting this group as the deepest-ever American squad, and competition for jobs will remain heated entering the final two qualification games. 

Mexico, meanwhile, was pummeled further into turmoil. After eight matches, they have only 8 points and are tied for fourth place with Panama. Should they remain there — third place Honduras has 11 points — they will be forced into a two-game playoff against New Zealand. 

“We’re all responsible,” said Luis Fernando Tena, who was named Mexico’s interim coach over the weekend and will have his job status revisited Wednesday. “We’re a team. We all win together. We all lose together. We have to be self-critical.” 

The Mexico team arrived to Ohio in disorder, but the Americans were not quite at full strength, either. The team was missing three players — Jozy Altidore, Matt Besler and Geoff Cameron — who were suspended because of yellow card accumulation, and, far more important, was without midfielder Michael Bradley, who sprained his left ankle Friday. 

Still, the United States was optimistic. All weekend, the players emphasized their success at Columbus Crew Stadium. Supporters packed into the stands — mere feet from the playing field — well before kickoff. 

But the pregame pomp gave way to an anticlimactic first half. The United States could not establish any continuity through its midfield early on. When goalkeeper Tim Howard was not sprawling to stop Mexico’s initial attempts on goal, he was waving his palms vigorously toward the ground, imploring his teammates to settle down. 

“Now it’s expected of us, but it’s never a guarantee,” said Howard, who made three saves, all during the first half. “World Cup qualifying is tense. It’s always so tight.” 

Mexico looked urgent, playing combinations through the middle and swarming the United States defenders when they tried to hold possession. The Americans seemed intent on absorbing the blows and working countermoves through the outside channels. 

The United States squad’s passing was too cavalier at first — several balls went trickling to opposing feet — but it sharpened before Mexico could capitalize. Two faraway blasts from Jermaine Jones — one saved, one wide — were the Americans’ first good chances. In the 32nd minute, Johnson went airborne and directed a threatening header toward goal, but goalkeeper Jose de Jesus Corona snatched it from the air. 

Klinsmann said he encouraged Johnson: “I told him at halftime, ‘You’re going to get another one,’ ” he said.

Four minutes into the second half, Johnson encountered a near-identical chance and this time made no mistake. Donovan curled a corner kick from the right side, and Johnson rose and hammered his forehead into it, smashing the ball beyond Corona, who wandered into no-man’s land.

The goal sapped the verve from the Mexicans’ legs. They stopped their purposeful movement from the first half and resorted to long balls that the American back line easily intercepted. 

“They looked relatively timid and shy throughout,” Donovan said. “I’ve never seen a Mexico team look that way.” 

As Mexico withered, the Americans pounced again. In the 78th minute, Donovan latched onto a cross from Mix Diskerud that ran across the Mexico goal mouth and tapped it easily into the net. He sprinted to the sideline to celebrate, and beverages were tossed into the air. 

And it seemed only appropriate that when the referee awarded the Americans an injury-time penalty kick, their captain, Clint Dempsey, blasted it wide, preserving the storied score line.

“Dos a cero,” the fans could sing again.