TEMPE, Ariz. (AP)—Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia doesn’t expect Bobby Abreu to be a distraction in the clubhouse this season.

Speaking a day after Abreu said in a statement to ESPNdeportes that the Angels should trade him if he is going to spend most of his time on the bench this season, Scioscia spoke highly of the outfielder who will turn 38 on March 11, but stopped short of saying he will play every day.

“I don’t think Bobby’s going to be anything but a player who wants to come out here and wants to help us win,” Scioscia said Wednesday. “Bobby and I have always spoken very candidly. He’s a professional. I don’t think there are many guys any more professional than Bobby.”

With the addition of Albert Pujols, Kendry Morales’ return from injury and Mark Trumbo’s emergence last year, it appears Abreu could lose significant playing time this season.

“I’m an everyday player, and can be in the lineup for a big league team,” Abreu told ESPNdeportes.com Tuesday. “I’m not going to be on the bench knowing I can play. If the Angels don’t have a set position for me, then the best thing they can do is trade me. It’d be the right thing to do. I’m not going to do anything sitting on the bench.”

Abreu hit.253 last year, his lowest average over a full season and only two points below his 2010 average. His on-base percentage was a respectable .353 last season, but well below his career OBP of .397 and his .390 OBP during a strong 2009 season, his first with the Angels.

Abreu also hit only eight homers with 60 RBIs last year, a steep dropoff from 2010 when he had 20 homers and 78 RBIs.

Scioscia insisted that there will be plenty of playing time for Abreu.

“I certainly don’t see him as a bench player, but I definitely see him as getting value in playing time,” Scioscia said. “How much it’s going to be … there are a lot of guys competing for at-bats, we know that. I don’t think Bobby would be valuable playing him once or twice a week. We would have to play him more than that and there are certainly ways to get a lot of guys into the lineup to where they’re contributing.

“I think what Bobby’s fear is that he’s going to become a bench player that’s going to play once a week. I think there’s a range in there between playing once a week and between playing seven days a week that I can definitely see a role in Bobby’s playing.”

It’s been reported that there is not a lot of interest for Abreu because of his contract that will pay him $9 million this season. Any deal involving Abreu would likely involve the Angels paying part of his contract or taking a bad contract back in return.

On Wednesday, Scioscia pointed to Abreu’s second-half struggles last season. After a solid June in which he hit .325, Abreu hit .179 in July and .200 in August.

“If you’re referring to Bobby’s case, you’re not about whether a guy’s production diminishes or not, you have to look at what the guy can do.” Scioscia said. ” Bobby’s still is a very, very productive player in some important areas. He still gives you a terrific at bat up there.

“If there are issues, his agent is going to work through them with (Angels General Manager Jerry Dipoto),” Scioscia said. “Bobby’s here and he’s going to help us win games.”

The Original Post is Located Here: Abreu wants trade if not everyday player (AP)

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Kelly Shoppach's preparation for his first season as a catcher with the Boston Red Sox includes more than just getting to know the pitching staff. He practically has to learn a different language.

He has to learn how to speak Varitek.

For 15 years, Jason Varitek was the voice in the Boston pitching staff's ear, and the target behind the plate, giving the Red Sox their hard-nosed, gritty identity that they used to win two World Series titles.

Now, it appears that era has come to an end.

While other stars arrived early, addressed the media, and have clearly bought into Boston's new regime -- designated hitter David Ortiz waltzed in on Wednesday -- Varitek has not shown up for the first two days of workouts for Red Sox pitchers and catchers. General manager Ben Cherington offered the soon-to-be 40-year-old captain a minor-league deal months ago, but still, Varitek is nowhere to be found.

His absence is taking some getting used to around here, and no one is ready to say for sure that they won't show up early one morning at their shiny new facility and see Varitek with his crew cut and goatee sitting in front of his locker with big bags of ice on his shoulders and knees and a heavy wrap around his back.

"If he doesn't come back, I'm going to miss him," said catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who started most of the games last season behind the plate. "I loved having him. I wish he was still here. If he does come back, it's going to be fun."

So far, there is no sign that will happen. For the first time since 1996, the year before he was acquired from Seattle in a trade, Varitek wasn't in the bullpen with the gear on. He wasn't there to check on how committed the pitchers were through the winter. He wasn't there to help them start ramping up for another season with high expectations.

His absence now makes Ortiz, 36, who accepted Cherington's arbitration offer of a one-year, $14.5 million contract, the oldest player on the team.

Even though Varitek has played second fiddle to Victor Martinez and Saltalamacchia over the past few seasons, he has still held tremendous influence in the clubhouse. Now the pitchers who so relied on his scouting reports and guidance have to establish new lines of communication with Saltalamacchia and Shoppach.

"That was something that 'Tek was so good at, reinforcing something if I knew it. Or if I didn't know it he would come out and tell me, 'Hey this is what you're doing, you're getting around the ball,' whatever," starter Josh Beckett said. "Just trying to get those guys to see the same thing he saw."

Of course, regardless of the position on the field, without Varitek, there will clearly be an opening for a leader, as well, especially after Boston's September collapse last season. That could fall to Ortiz, who held court on Wednesday with reporters, and is coming off his first .300-plus season since 2007.

"You always have something to prove," said Ortiz, who hit .309 with 29 home runs, 96 RBI, and 84 runs scored last season. "It's a new season, and I'm excited."

It appears that Varitek has three options. He can take the minor-league deal with the Red Sox, the only team he has ever played for in the big leagues, try to convince another organization to give an aging catcher with declining skills a chance as a backup, or retire, like his friend and long-time Boston leader Tim Wakefield did last week.

He still has not made his intentions known, and the Sox aren't rushing him. They're set at catcher with the two veterans and prospect Ryan Lavarnway being groomed for the future anyway.

"I would be surprised if he did [come back]," new manager Bobby Valentine said earlier this week. "I don't have any expectations because I haven't heard that we should get his uniform ready."

If Varitek is grappling with the decision to retire, it's understandable. He is an icon in Boston, where his blue-collar work ethic endeared him to die-hard Sox fans, and has caught more games than any player in the team's storied history.

He is only the third Red Sox captain since 1923, joining Hall of Famers Carl Yastrzemski and Jim Rice. And despite his declining production in recent seasons, Varitek will be sorely missed in the clubhouse. Beckett said he would be missed "severely."

"I don't think you're going to find anybody in there who has played with him who says they're not going to miss him," Beckett said.

It wasn't just the way he called a game behind the plate, or the pop he provided at it. There was just something about seeing No. 33 sitting in front of his locker draped in ice bags and ace bandages that got this team going.

"If you ever really watch 'Tek, he doesn't say much," starter Jon Lester said. "But just his presence is enough."

Shoppach broke into the big leagues with the Red Sox in 2005 before moving on to build a solid career with the Indians and Rays. He only played nine games in that first season, but Varitek's influence on him continues to this day.

"He was one of the greatest players in this organization, in my opinion," Shoppach said. "I think that everybody learned from him. The brief time that I was with him years ago, there are still some things that I do in my everyday routine and my preparation that you know can't help but rub off from him."

The Original Post is Located Here: Varitek remains absent from Red Sox camp, captain’s era may be over

Miranda Kerr Loves Her Ears

Wednesday February 22, 2012

MIRANDA Kerr only has eyes for her ears!

The Aussie supermodel has picked out her luscious lugholes as her best physical asset, despite the attention lavished on her curves.

“I don’t know what my best feature is,” says Miranda, 28, who is married to actor Orlando Bloom.

“I really like my ears. They’re little ears!”

Kerr has previously admitted she doubted her beauty at the start of her career.

“I just remember the first time I met Adriana [Lima], she was so beautiful,” she said.

“I was like, ‘Why would they want me? I mean, look at her. She’s incredible.’ And then I met Heidi and Gisele and I was like, ‘What am I doing here?’

“Now I always see myself as, like, equal to everyone.

“I can’t feel bad about being who I am, just like the girl next to me can’t feel bad about being who she is. A rose can never be a sunflower, and a sunflower can never be a rose.

“All flowers are beautiful in their own way, and that’s like women too. I want to encourage women to embrace their own uniqueness.”

The Original Post is Located Here: Miranda Kerr Loves Her Ears

British cloud-based content collaboration firm Huddle has launched a private beta programme for its new intelligent file synchronisation tool, which the company describes as a Dropbox for the enterprise.

The new patent-pending technology allows everyone in an organisation to securely access company files, and intelligently syncs relevant documents onto their desktop and mobile devices using algorithms linked to workers' actions in Huddle. This means that workers can access the files they need without consuming large amounts of bandwidth.

Alastair Mitchell, chief executive of Huddle, explained that cross-enterprise file sync is far more complex than personal file sync. "While consumer sync tools such as Dropbox are useful for providing access to documents at an individual level, they lack the security, scalability and intelligence required for the enterprise," he said.

Huddle Sync gives the IT department transparency into where data is stored and which files have been shared within and across the firewall, as well as providing full audit trails and granular permission settings. It also has a remote wipe capability, in case a device is lost or stolen.

Mitchell claims that Huddle is the only company to offer this kind of cloud-based enterprise-class sync tool. He said that, unlike the cloud version of Microsoft Sharepoint, which is merely "a legacy bit of kit that has been plonked in someone else's data centre," Huddle harnesses the "real cloud" - a single platform that everyone can access.

Gartner analyst Jeff Mann said that the comparison with Sharepoint was difficult to judge, as Huddle does not offer many of the functions that Sharepoint offers.

"Huddle doesn't prentend to be a portal, it's not really used for BI, but I think for file-sharing it's one of the many competitors," Mann told Techworld. "If you find Sharepoint on-premise clunky, then Sharepoint in the cloud is clunky too. But the advantage that Office 365 has is that it is Sharepoint - it may not be what you like, but at least it's what you know, and that has been attractive for a lot of companies.

"The 'real cloud' companies do have some advantages, in terms of ease of use and accessibilty, but you still have to convince people that they can trust the cloud at all, and then that they can trust you specifically. It's certainly a hurdle for a lot of the cloud suppliers," he added.

Huddle caters primarily to large enterprises and government departments, whereas other competitors such as Box.net are more focused on the SMB market, according to Mitchell. Huddle Sync aims to replace the traditional shared drive, allowing workers to access all of their organisation's content and share files in real-time across entire workforces and multiple devices.

Meanwhile, the intelligent file sync engine uses algorithms to determine who the user is and which files they need, based on their Huddle profile, activity, workspaces and recent activity. Employees receive notifications on their devices when a new file is available, and files that are not automatically distributed can be synchronised manually.

"Humans have lost the war against information overload, and only machines can save us now. In this case the machine would be the algorithms in Huddle Sync that enable it to send/suggest relevant content that I should download from the cloud repository," said Forrester analyst Tim Walters.

"Having all of my content - as well as all of the content of all of the teams of which I'm a part - available in the cloud sounds like a blessing. But then the sheer volume of it is actually a curse, and it's the reason that enterprise sync (as opposed to personally syncing music files, for example) remains a problem. Huddle's intelligent sync aims to address this problem. Now we need to see if it is intelligent enough."

Huddle has released a new iPhone application to coincide with the launch of Huddle Sync, which syncs users' recommended content for offline viewing over an encrypted 256-bit SSL connection. Content can be reviewed and approved, new tasks can be added to a to-do list, and items can be assigned and completed. The iPhone app's storage is also encrypted, so content cannot be accessed.

The company also plans to release versions of the client for iPad, Android and BlackBerry in the coming months.

Earlier this month it was rumoured that Google is on the verge of launching its own cloud-based storage product, which has been described as the search giant's answer to Dropbox. People familiar with the matter reportedly told The Wall Street Journal that the new service, called Drive, allows users to store photos, documents and videos on Google's servers, allowing them to be accessed and shared from any web-connected device.

The Original Post is Located Here: Huddle Launches Intelligent Sync Tool to Rival Sharepoint

Image Credit: Will Cotton

Adele isn’t the only one racking up big numbers this week.

In the wake of Katy Perry’s performance at the Grammy Awards, “Part of Me” made its debut on the Billboard Hot 100 at number one.

That makes seven chart-toppers for Perry, joining “I Kissed a Girl,” “California Gurls,” “Teenage Dream,” “Firework,” “E.T.,” and “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.).”

“Part of Me” is also now only the 20th tune in the chart’s 53-year history to make its debut on top. For the latter feat, Perry now joins some rare company. Michael Jackson was the first to pull it off when he sent “You Are Not Alone” (from the HIStory album) to the top of the Hot 100 in 1995.

Huge names followed, including Mariah Carey (who has actually done it three times), Whitney Houston, Britney Spears, Eminem, Celine Dion, and a bunch of American Idol winners. The last artist to pull it off was Lady Gaga, who released “Born This Way” at the top of the Billboard heap.

With the benefit of a record Grammys audience at her back, Perry moved an estimated 411,000 downloads of “Part of Me,” her best sales week yet. With radio play expected to increase and single sales figuring to stay robust through the release of Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection on March 27, “Part of Me” could end up having a long reign at number one.

But of course, the rest of the chart belongs to Adele. She has three songs in the top 10: “Set Fire to the Rain” (no. 2), “Rolling in the Deep” (no. 5), and “Someone Like You” (no. 7). All three of those songs have also held the top spot at one point, and they all got big bumps both in sales and on radio. Naturally, that, too, represents a record: No female artist has ever had three songs in the top 10 simultaneously.

And despite the mixed reviews she received for her performance, Nicki Minaj still managed to get a Grammy bump, sending her new single “Starships” to a top 10 debut. That’s the best opening bow ever for Minaj and her second trip to the upper echelon (“Super Bass,” EW’s Single of the Year in 2011, peaked at number three).

What do you think of Perry’s latest chart-buster and Adele’s latest record?

Read more on EW.com:Katy Perry’s first single from ‘The Complete Confection’ to be ‘Part of Me’: Listen to a snippet here!Album Sales: Adele tops the chart for a 21st week; Bruno Mars, The Civil Wars get big Grammy bumps‘Raising Hope’ scoop: California Gurl to guest star! — EXCLUSIVE

The Original Post is Located Here: Katy Perry’s ‘Part of Me’ debuts atop the Billboard Hot 100, Adele sends three songs to top 10

Apple has uploaded a preview of ‘Mountain Lion’, which is the latest update to the Mac operating system (OS). The new software is set to be availbale ahead of Microsoft's Windows 8 launch.

The new operating system for the long-standing Apple staple, the Mac, has been announced by the computer giant. It will be called ‘Mountain Lion’. The new operating system is being presented as a major change (it will replace the current iOS), and it is designed to connect the features that users of the iPad have enjoyed on the Mac itself.At the moment the preview is only available to Mac Developer Program members (who could access it from February, 16).The announcement by Apple and the preview comes ahead of Microsoft’s launch of Windows 8, which is scheduled to be made available to PC users later this year. According to the BBC, Microsoft also plan to bring the smartphone experience closer to the PC experience.With ‘Mountain Lion’, some of the new features include:1. Gatekeeper, a feature which provides added security when downloading apps.2. Game Center (including the ability to play live multiplayer games, and to play these on the Mac, iPad or iPhone).3. Messages (a replacement of iChat).4. Notification Center.5. Share Sheets.6. Twitter integration in to the Safari browser.7. AirPlay Mirroring (this means that Mac owners will be able to stream video content from their computer to a TV using Apple TV).8. iCloud (which allows documents to be accessed across different devices).In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook said: “We see that people are in love with a lot of apps and functionality here. Anywhere where that makes sense, we are going to move that over to Mac.”The biggest feature, according to Apple in a press release, is the Gatekeeper function which replaced the Quarantine system on the current OS. Of this, Apple has said: “Gatekeeper, a revolutionary security feature that helps keep you safe from malicious software by giving you complete control over what apps are installed on your Mac.”In terms of reactions from tech sites, Z-Net have described ‘Mountain Lion’ as an “evolutionary step forward, rather than a revolutionary leap”, a view reflected by Computer World.The Daily Telegraph indicates that ‘Mountain Lion’ will be available for download in late summer, 2012. The price of the upgrade, however, has yet to be disclosed. Nevertheless, it will probably be popular given the sales success with Macs. The Guardian states that 5.2 million Macs were sold in the quarter ending in December 2011, which was an increase of 26% from the same quarter in 2010.

The Original Post is Located Here: Apple previews ‘Mountain Lion’ for the Mac ahead of Windows 8

New features in version 2.0 of its operating system make the PlayBook what it was supposed to have been last year: A truly impressive device. But is the market too impatient for it?

In the blood sport that passes for tablet journalism, Research In Motion was trampled when it stumbled and fell in the game of Last Tablet Standing. The PlayBook, RIM’s much-delayed entry, arrived in April last year and was instantly criticized for not having as many apps as Apple’s iPad, for having a 7-inch screen, which Steve Jobs promptly dismissed as being too small, and for not having a native e-mail application.This last criticism was particularly deserved for a company that led the way in portable e-mail: to use the PlayBook as an e-mail client when not near a Wi-Fi connection, users had to have a BlackBerry smartphone and to connect it via Bluetooth to their PlayBook. When the tablet was released, RIM immediately announced it would rectify the situation with a software update due in 60 days.That update finally arrived Tuesday, some 240 days after it was promised, in the form of a new operating system called BlackBerry OS 2.0. (The updated operating system can be downloaded free for PlayBook owners via its Wi-Fi connection.) It addresses many of the original criticisms, but 10 months is an eternity in an impatient industry that demands a revolution every six months.An early examination of the new system shows a slick device that has been properly beta-tested, a successful piece of hardware. But it will still have a long way to go to win back the popularity contest it lost to Apple, the Google-made Android devices and even Amazon’s Kindle Fire. And then it will face even more competition later this year from the iPad 3, also due soon, from Microsoft, when it unleashes Windows 8, and perhaps from a new device from Motorola, which Google now owns.How this will shake out is anybody’s guess — a scant 18 months ago RIM appeared to be the company to beat in the corporate sphere; now, the online punditocracy has been quick to write RIM’s obituary. Still, when RIM cut the price of its PlayBook to $299, there was a run on the item, and there are reports that the PlayBook now holds a 15 per cent share of the tablet market, which despite the obituaries is a significant share.One thing that the obituaries are missing is that the PlayBook hardware has not changed. BB OS 2.0 runs fluidly and properly on the device, and since the OS upgrade is free, this makes the tablet a strong product.This release answers most of the prayers people had for the original PlayBook. It now includes a native e-mail client, a calendar and contacts list; its unified inbox gathers all messages in one place, including those from Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, as well as personal and work e-mail accounts. (There are also integrated Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn apps.) The calendar application uses data from social networks, and populates contact cards with the updated information.As a device for businesses, which has been RIM’s strongest market, BB OS 2.0 has also beefed up its document editing functions and added a new Print To Go app. A feature called BlackBerry Balance offers better control over corporate data, and another, called BlackBerry Mobile Fusion, supports both PlayBook tablets and BlackBerry smartphones for deployment by enterprise IT departments. This version of Mobile Fusion is a partial launch; a full version, to be released in late March, will offer enterprises management of various other smartphones as well, through a single unified console, with added support for Apple iOS and Android devices. This last bit is timely, because the concept of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), a movement to open businesses to encourage employees to use their own devices, has been gaining traction among enterprise customers recently.There are, moreover, a few nice surprises. There’s a feature in BlackBerry Bridge that offers wireless control over the tablet by letting your BlackBerry smartphone act as its keyboard and mouse, via a Bluetooth connection. Bluetooth also plays a role when connecting the PlayBook and core apps on a BlackBerry smartphone (e-mail, contacts, calendar and browser) that make smartphone documents, web pages, e-mail and photos appear on the larger tablet display.There is an Open On feature, which allows users to open documents (PowerPoint, Word, and PDF), photos and links from a BlackBerry smartphone on the PlayBook tablet with one click.The PlayBook’s updated virtual keyboard now includes auto correction and predictive text, and has a “learning” function to help users to type more quickly and accurately.And answering the chorus of critics who said there were just not enough apps for the PlayBook, RIM has also included the ability run apps from Google's Android operating system, and has been tempting developers with free PlayBooks to port their apps to the new operating system. The company’s promotion claims that there are (or would be) “thousands” of new apps on BlackBerry App World, including games such as Angry Birds and Cut the Rope, but the allure of a free PlayBook doesn’t appear to have yet beefed up the BlackBerry App World with a significant number of them.This version of BlackBerry PlayBook, then, is what it was supposed to be almost a year ago. Its operating system, based on a rock-solid product from RIM-owned QNX, operates the way it should, and does so attractively.The problem is that the handheld world has devolved into two warring camps, Apple iOS and Android, and fans have been entrenching themselves, much as they did in the old Apple-Microsoft wars. These people, most of them “early adopters,” are fiercely committed people, and not likely to want to shift again. But then again either Google or Apple can stumble, which is not likely, or Apple’s iPad 3 makes the fans gasp with awe, or the Microsoft juggernaut jumps into the lifeboat and threatens to swamp everyone.In that case, the BlackBerry PlayBook will end up being a wonderful product that few people want. And that will be too bad, because the PlayBook, with BB OS 2.0, is a fine product.

The Original Post is Located Here: BlackBerry’s PlayBook gets a slick makeover

Ryan Howard is four months removed from surgery to repair a torn left Achilles tendon.

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) -- An injured Ryan Howard clutching his leg and writhing in pain on the ground was the lasting image for the Philadelphia Phillies' disappointing 2011 finish.

The big slugger is doing much better now, and he was all smiles after taking batting practice Wednesday for the first time since surgery to repair his torn left Achilles tendon.

"I feel good where I am right now," Howard said. "I don't know what everybody else's expectations were for me to be at this point, but I feel good. Not exactly where I want to be yet. There is still a lot of strengthening that needs to take place, change of direction and working on those kinds of things.

"But I feel all right."

Howard only started swinging a bat less than two weeks ago, and he's uncertain when he'll return to his cleanup spot in the Phillies' lineup.

"I'm not going to put a time limit on it. I'm going to listen to my body and see where we are," Howard said. "Obviously, the goal is to want to get out there as soon as possible, but at the same time, with this, I'm just listening to my body and it will let me know when it's ready. I've been talking with the training staff and I've been able to do some things, taking some ground balls, doing some hitting, doing baseball-type movements."

Howard ruptured his Achilles while making the final out in Philadelphia's 1-0 loss to St. Louis in Game 5 of the NL division series last October. It was an awful way to end a season that began with enormous expectations.

The Phillies set a franchise-record with a major league-leading 102 wins and captured their fifth straight NL East title but again fell short of winning their second World Series championship since 2008.

Howard also made the last out of the season in a 3-2 loss to San Francisco in Game 6 of the 2010 NLCS. He took a called third strike against Brian Wilson with two runners on base.

"I know how it looks to everybody, like having the season come down and you're the guy. But I try to look at it positive like, the last two seasons I got out, I figure I'm about due," Howard said. "I'd love to be in that situation again. There's going to be those times when you come through, and there's going to be those times when you don't come through."

Howard has delivered in the clutch quite often for the Phillies, though his numbers have gone down in recent years. The 2006 NL MVP batted .253 with a team-high 33 homers and 116 RBIs last year. But he was just 2 for 19 (.105) with a homer and six RBIs in the NL division series against the Cardinals.

From 2006-09, Howard averaged 50 homers and 141 RBIs while hitting .278. He hasn't matched that production since signing a $125 million, five-year contract extension in April 2010. Howard has averaged 32 homers and 112 RBIs with a .265 average over the last two seasons.

Told that manager Charlie Manuel said Howard's best years are still ahead of him, the 32-year-old first baseman said: "I would like to think so. Just continuing to learn and to grow as a hitter and a player. Just taking care of my body, stay healthy, I feel like I can go out there and do some damage."

The Phillies haven't figured out how they will replace Howard early in the season. They signed veteran Jim Thome, acquired Ty Wigginton and also have John Mayberry Jr.

Thome was traded away to make room for Howard after he was the NL Rookie of the Year in 2005. He'll likely be used mostly in a pinch-hitting role, but could see some action at first base while Howard is out. Either way, Howard is looking forward to spending time with Thome on the bench and in the clubhouse.

"First and foremost, he's a great guy, a first-class person," Howard said. "And it's funny because when I heard we signed him back, I was like, man, everything comes around full circle. I was excited for him because he's a first-ballot Hall of Famer and I'm definitely going to be picking his brain as soon as he gets back here.

"He's a great guy for a clubhouse, great guy for a team."

Notes: The Phillies promoted Marti Wolever to Assistant General Manager, Amateur Scouting. Wolever had been Philadelphia's director of scouting since October 2011. Before that role, he served as the club's national cross-checker and scouting coordinator for nine years. ... 3B Placido Polanco arrived in camp Wednesday and said he's ready to go after having surgery to repair two abdominal tears. Polanco was selected for the All-Star game last year, but struggled down the stretch because of his injury.

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

The Original Post is Located Here: Howard takes BP for first time since Achilles tear

Miranda Kerr Loves Her Ears

Wednesday February 22, 2012

MIRANDA Kerr only has eyes for her ears!

The Aussie supermodel has picked out her luscious lugholes as her best physical asset, despite the attention lavished on her curves.

“I don’t know what my best feature is,” says Miranda, 28, who is married to actor Orlando Bloom.

“I really like my ears. They’re little ears!”

Kerr has previously admitted she doubted her beauty at the start of her career.

“I just remember the first time I met Adriana [Lima], she was so beautiful,” she said.

“I was like, ‘Why would they want me? I mean, look at her. She’s incredible.’ And then I met Heidi and Gisele and I was like, ‘What am I doing here?’

“Now I always see myself as, like, equal to everyone.

“I can’t feel bad about being who I am, just like the girl next to me can’t feel bad about being who she is. A rose can never be a sunflower, and a sunflower can never be a rose.

“All flowers are beautiful in their own way, and that’s like women too. I want to encourage women to embrace their own uniqueness.”

The Original Post is Located Here: Miranda Kerr Loves Her Ears

Not counting albums that were released on an irregular schedule, or, arrived early due to street-date violation sales, Adele's "21" achieves the largest weekly unit gain for an album since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking data in 1991. It earned a staggering 493,000 gain last week -- moving from 237,000 copies last week to 730,000 this week.

21 for '21' | Adele Gives Finger, Receives Apology at BRITs

With that 207% increase, it also easily spends a 21st week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Clearly, Adele's performance (and six wins) on the Feb. 12 Grammy Awards spurred "21's" massive sales increase. The annual broadcast can be counted on for generating big bumps in sales, but Adele's is the biggest.

The previous largest SoundScan-era gain for an album came on March 15, 2003, when Norah Jones' "Come Away With Me" jumped from No. 3 to No. 1, selling 621,000 (up from 144,000 the week previous). Coincidentally, Jones' jump was caused by the Grammy Awards, too.

Jones won three of the top Grammy categories that year: album ("Come Away With Me") and record of the year ("Don't Know Why"), in addition to best new artist.

SLIDESHOW: Best of the Grammys

Only three albums have seen a larger unit gain in a week than "21," but all were generated by irregular debuts or off-cycle releases.

-- Eminem's "The Eminem Show" jumped from 285,000 to 1,322,000 on June 8, 2002 in its first full week on the chart -- and second week at No. 1 (a gain of 1,037,000). Its 285,000 debut at No. 1 was engineered by an early release, and, at most, only three days of sales. After its first full week in stores, it then incurred the massive jump in sales.

-- Pearl Jam's "Vitalogy" zoomed from 10,000 to 877,000 on the chart dated Dec. 24, 1994 -- its third week on the chart. The album was released on vinyl LP first (debuting at No. 55 on Dec. 10 with 34,000) before falling to No. 173 with 10,000 the next week. Once the CD was released, it flew to No. 1 with 877,000.

-- The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Life After Death" went from 6,000 to 690,000 in its second week on the chart -- April 12, 1997 (gain of 684,000). However, its bow at No. 176 with 6,000 was owed to early sales, pre-official street date, that forced the title onto the list prematurely. The next week, after its first official week in release, it jumped to No. 1.

The Original Post is Located Here: Adele’s ’21′ Earns Biggest Sales Gain In SoundScan History

The months following rehab are normally a very personal time, but troubled pop singer Demi Lovato has allowed MTV's cameras to follow her for some of her new post-rehab life. Fans will get to see exactly what that looks like on March 6, when MTV airs the special "Demi Lovato: Stay Strong."

Lovato abruptly quit her tour with the Jonas Brothers in October 2010 to seek medical treatment for several issues including eating disorders and self-mutilation. When she returned to the public eye last April, she said that she wouldn't be returning to her hit Disney Channel series, "Sonny With a Chance," and instead would focus on her music career.

She announced a 10-date U.S. concert tour at the end of last year, and the MTV cameras have captured her activities during that tour, which included a stop at her hometown of Dallas, a highly publicized speaking engagement at the Illinois rehab facility where she underwent treatment, and her first Thanksgiving since getting help with her eating disorder — a tricky and sensitive moment.

In the special, Lovato reveals that she was unprepared for the role-model status that was thrust upon her along with the fame. "It literally ended up driving me insane," she says.

Her recovery has been accompanied by a healthy career. Her post-rehab album, "Unbroken," was released last fall and peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard charts.

Lovato announced the special to her 5.8 million fans Tuesday on Twitter. "Lovatics -- I wanted to tell you FIRST about a special I worked on with @MTV. It premieres March 6th at 10pm!! #staystrong."

RELATED:

Demi Lovato's rebirth

Demi Lovato announces a 10-date U.S. concert tour

Demi Lovato debuts 'Skyscraper,' discusses staying strong after treatment [Music video]

— Patrick Kevin Day

Photo: Demi Lovato. Credit: Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times.

The Original Post is Located Here: Demi Lovato reveals post-rehab life in MTV special [Video]

Vocal group One Direction makes waves on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart this week as its "What Makes You Beautiful" debuts at No. 28. It's the highest bow for a U.K. act's debut U.S. single in nearly 14 years.

"Beautiful" sold 132,000 downloads in its first week according to Nielsen SoundScan, starting at No. 12 on the Digital Songs chart.

Formed on the 2010 edition of the U.K.'s "X Factor" TV program, the male quintet earns the highest new-Brit Hot 100 launch since the Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony" entered at No. 13 on the chart dated March 28, 1998. (While that wasn't necessarily the Verve's very first single, it was their first Hot 100 entry.)

To be more exacting, the last U.K. act (solo or otherwise) to start higher than One Direction with their true first U.S. single was singer Jimmy Ray with "Are You Jimmy Ray?" on Feb. 21, 1998 (No. 26).

Katy Perry's 'Part of Me' Debuts Atop Hot 100

Finally, the last U.K. group to see its first U.S. single start higher was the Spice Girls, when "Wannabe" landed at No. 11 on Jan. 25, 1997. "Wannabe" vaulted to No. 1 four weeks later, spending four straight weeks at the top of the tally.

The success of "Beautiful" may only be just beginning. It makes its retail launch even before One Direction's record label -- Columbia -- officially begins going for airplay at pop radio next week.

One Direction comprises Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson. All of the group hails from U.K., save for Horan, who is from Ireland. The five young gents (ages 18-20) have nabbed three top three U.K. singles and reached No. 2 with its debut album "Up All Night" in November 2011. "Night" will be released in the U.S. on March 13 via SYCO/Columbia.

Last night (Feb. 21), the act won its first Brit Award (essentially the U.K. equivalent of the U.S.' Grammy) for best British single for "What Makes You Beautiful." (The category is one of three Brit Awards determined by a public vote.)

Next up for the group will be a U.S. tour with Big Time Rush beginning Feb. 24 in Chicago, with dates lined up through March 9 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. They'll also play NBC's "Today" show on March 12 -- the day before "Up All Night" is released.

One Direction follows in the recent success of fellow U.K. quintet the Wanted, who jump 25-23 on the Hot 100 this week with "Glad You Came." So far, the single has moved 418,000 downloads. The song also rises 16-13 on the Pop Songs airplay tally this week.

(Additional reporting by Gary Trust)

The Original Post is Located Here: One Direction Has Highest Hot 100 Debut For New U.K. Act Since 1998

By now, we're sure you have that shiny new PlayStation Vita all unboxed and have logged several hours on the thing playing games, Tweeting and watching vids on Netflix. But, if those apps we told you about earlier weren't enough to fulfill your entertainment needs, you'll be happy to know there could be more in stock for you. SCEA Senior VP Guy Longworth may have spilled the beans when he told The Hollywood Reporter "we have a partnership with Netflix and Hulu; this is a new way for them to distribute content." An interesting statement given the fact there's no Hulu app available now that Vita has launched. Good news is, the previously unknown hook-up indicates we may be be able to catch some episodes of Gossip Girl at some point in the future on our monstrous quad-core handheld.

The Original Post is Located Here: SCEA Senior VP hints Hulu may be headed to PS Vita

Whitney Houston in Her Coffin: Picture

Wednesday February 22, 2012

THIS chilling picture is on the front cover of this week’s National Enquirer.

It’s singer Whitney Houston in an open casket at the Whigham Funeral Home in New Jersey before her burial last weekend.

According to the Boyculture blog, the mag “is on sale on newsstands completely out in the open”.

Whitney was found dead in the bath of her Beverly Hills hotel room on February 11. She was 48 years old.

Meanwhile, the cemetery Houston was laid to rest has been closed to the public indefinitely.

Officials at the Fairview Cemetery in New Jersey made the decision following a series of traffic problems resulting from grieving fans wanting to pay their respects to the singer, who was buried there on Sunday.

Police Captain Cliff Auchter said: “It’s a private property, and it’s up to them to make that decision. It was done in light of the overcrowding that occurred.

“The cemetery is a maze of very small roads, so if two cars come face to face, you have a Mexican standoff.”

Those with relatives buried in the cemetery will not be affected by the ban, and a round-the-clock police presence will remain in place for the forseeable future.

Capt. Aucher added: “I don’t have any idea as to when that will change. It’s being evaluated day to day [by the cemetery].”

Despite the traffic problems, there have been no incidents at the site.

He added: “It’s been relatively quiet.”

Tags: whitney houston, whitney houston death photo, whitney houston open casket pic

The Original Post is Located Here: Whitney Houston in Her Coffin: Picture

By now, we're sure you have that shiny new PlayStation Vita all unboxed and have logged several hours on the thing playing games, Tweeting and watching vids on Netflix. But, if those apps we told you about earlier weren't enough to fulfill your entertainment needs, you'll be happy to know there could be more in stock for you. SCEA Senior VP Guy Longworth may have spilled the beans when he told The Hollywood Reporter "we have a partnership with Netflix and Hulu; this is a new way for them to distribute content." An interesting statement given the fact there's no Hulu app available now that Vita has launched. Good news is, the previously unknown hook-up indicates we may be be able to catch some episodes of Gossip Girl at some point in the future on our monstrous quad-core handheld.

The Original Post is Located Here: SCEA Senior VP hints Hulu may be headed to PS Vita

Jonathon Niese's nose looks much the same but he says he can breathe a lot better.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) -- Last summer, Carlos Beltran offered to foot the bill if then-Mets teammate Jonathan Niese received a nose job.

Now it's time to pay up.

"Carlos and I were joking around about it and he said he wanted me to get a new nose," Niese said Wednesday. "Yeah, he'll pay. I sent him the bill."

The surgery, performed last October, didn't straighten the 25-year-old pitcher's crooked nose much, but that wasn't the point. Niese is breathing a lot easier after the procedure corrected a deviated septum.

Teammates gave a collective thumbs-up to the pitcher's new look, which should help in conditioning that's been questioned occasionally. Niese experienced a rapid heartbeat during a start last June.

"He used to get ragged hard about that, his dysfunctional nose," catcher Josh Thole said. "It actually looks pretty good. It should help him a lot in everyday life, too, not just in baseball."

Third baseman David Wright said if Niese believes it helps "functionality," that's good enough for him.

"He actually looks like he's in pretty good shape," Wright said. "So maybe that had something to do with it."

Prior to the Mets' first workout for pitchers and catchers, Niese said that he'd been having trouble breathing through the right nostril for some time. The surgeon told Niese the nose was broken, although the pitcher didn't remember when that could have happened.

"It looks a little different, if you look at the before and afters, but it doesn't really change my appearance," Niese said. "When I run, that's when I notice it. After I run, I've always breathed heavily but that hasn't been the case lately."

The left-hander was an 11-game winner last year in his second full season in the rotation. He said he and Beltran were joking around last summer when Beltran brought up surgery and offered to pay.

The bill for an amount Niese declined to specify, but will not make a dent in Beltran's bank account, is in the mail.

Beltran was traded to the Giants at the deadline and signed a two-year, $26 million free agent deal in the offseason with St. Louis. The Cardinals are training in Jupiter, Fla., about a 40-minute interstate drive south of the Mets' complex.

The only negative in the Niese equation?

"Why would we ruin a joke we've had for so long," Thole asked.

Notes: First baseman Ike Davis was on his way back to camp after flying to New York Wednesday to see team doctors for an unspecified problem related to his physical exam. Team spokesman Jay Horwitz said Davis was fine and was expected back Thursday. ... Rookie SS Ruben Tejada, who will take over for departed Jose Reyes, is expected to arrive Saturday after clearing up a Visa issue in Panama. Manager Terry Collins was disappointed Tejada didn't show up early to start developing chemistry with 2B Daniel Murphy. "I am a little surprised," Collins said. "A lot of it's just selfishness on my part. I know Ruben will come in in great shape and I know he'll be ready to go, I just wish he was here." ... Collins said LHP Johan Santana had no health issues after Tuesday's 30-pitch bullpen session.

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

The Original Post is Located Here: Mets’ Niese gets a nose job, Beltran gets the bill

Whitney Houston in Her Coffin: Picture

Wednesday February 22, 2012

THIS chilling picture is on the front cover of this week’s National Enquirer.

It’s singer Whitney Houston in an open casket at the Whigham Funeral Home in New Jersey before her burial last weekend.

According to the Boyculture blog, the mag “is on sale on newsstands completely out in the open”.

Whitney was found dead in the bath of her Beverly Hills hotel room on February 11. She was 48 years old.

Meanwhile, the cemetery Houston was laid to rest has been closed to the public indefinitely.

Officials at the Fairview Cemetery in New Jersey made the decision following a series of traffic problems resulting from grieving fans wanting to pay their respects to the singer, who was buried there on Sunday.

Police Captain Cliff Auchter said: “It’s a private property, and it’s up to them to make that decision. It was done in light of the overcrowding that occurred.

“The cemetery is a maze of very small roads, so if two cars come face to face, you have a Mexican standoff.”

Those with relatives buried in the cemetery will not be affected by the ban, and a round-the-clock police presence will remain in place for the forseeable future.

Capt. Aucher added: “I don’t have any idea as to when that will change. It’s being evaluated day to day [by the cemetery].”

Despite the traffic problems, there have been no incidents at the site.

He added: “It’s been relatively quiet.”

Tags: whitney houston, whitney houston death photo, whitney houston open casket pic

The Original Post is Located Here: Whitney Houston in Her Coffin: Picture

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Albert Pujols, unleashed?

On a warm day in the desert, thousands of miles from where Pujols has ever suited up before for spring training, maybe that's a little dramatic.

Pujols, uncaged -- that was more like it on Day One in his new life with the Angels.

"I'm really excited to be here," Pujols said. "It feels good to be outside. I've been training for almost three months inside, in the cage back in St. Louis. It's awesome to be back here and start spring baseball."

Uncaged and outside, Pujols spent the day beaming. He smiled frequently throughout an unofficial workout on a back field on the minor-league side of the Angels' complex. His 53-minute news conference afterward was beamed nationwide, live, on the MLB Network.

Never before have so many electromagnetic waves emanated from this franchise. The Angels took the Pujols press conference to an auditorium in a resort hotel just behind Tempe Diablo Stadium, by Mt. Diablo. (Easy on the wisecracks here, Cardinals fans.) A club spokesman confirmed the team has never done that for any player.

Then again, this club has never before committed a quarter of a billion dollars to any one player.

At that price, had anybody greeted Pujols with that old line, "You look like a million bucks," it would have been an insult.

He arrived in Arizona on Sunday and reported to camp a week early, as promised, just after 7 a.m. on Monday. He was greeted by pitchers, catchers and expectations. Few position players are in yet, since the Angels' first full-squad workout isn't until next Monday.

Those who are here were in on the ground floor of the biggest seismic shock to hit the game since it last was on the field, when Pujols' Cardinals won Game 7 of the World Series last October.

"I had a great time in the city of St. Louis," Pujols said. "You don't just flip that page and say move on. I had some great moments, was able to accomplish winning two World Series, and that's something that I want to bring to Anaheim and to this ball club -- have, hopefully, better years than I had in St. Louis and, hopefully, more championships."

In his first steps toward the 2012 season, Pujols worked Monday on Field 3. Some 150 fans crowded around the fence to get a glimpse of the game's biggest story. Pujols spent time taking ground balls at first base, then took several rounds of batting practice against hitting coach Mickey Hatcher. He didn't blast a ball over the fence until Round No. 5.

Kendrys Morales, who lost all of last season to complications from a broken ankle after finishing fifth in AL MVP voting in 2009 -- and who lost his hold on first base when Pujols signed -- took turns in the batting cage with the big guy.

Third-base coach Dino Ebel had some fun here.

"I told Morales, 'I don't want to be your friend anymore. Albert's my new friend,' " Ebel hollered in Hatcher's direction.

Everybody wants to be Albert's friend. When they called it quits for the day, Angels owner Arte Moreno was waiting to greet Pujols as he left the field.

He is the face of the franchise, and expectations are enormous.

But he played that role for so long in St. Louis, it isn't like he needs a new mask.

"First of all, I need to make sure I prepare to do my job," he said. "That's something I'm not going to change."

Then there are the requisite questions facing Pujols, like how switching leagues may affect his numbers. He pointed to his rookie season in 2001, when he batted .329 with 37 homers and 130 RBI in 161 games.

"It's a different league, but I can go back to 2001 and I didn't know any pitcher around the league," he said. "With the technology right now and the scouting, you can ask guys questions and go by the scouting report. And in the NL I got to play interleague, so I'll probably see guys I saw in the past."

As new Angels pitcher LaTroy Hawkins quipped the other day, it's not like they're suddenly asking Pujols to play football.

Yet as Angels manager Mike Scioscia acknowledges, there is more anticipation in the desert air here than there's been in a while.

Say this as the Angels look for liftoff: If Pujols is at all disappointing out of the gate, even in the slightest, it probably will have more to do with his age (32) than being burdened by crushing pressure.

As then-Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa said on another of Pujols' monumental arrival days in spring -- last year, when his contract negotiations were blowing up -- the man "is tied for first with the all-timers" when it comes to blocking out distractions.

"As soon as I had the press conference last year in spring training, I put it to the side and it was time to play baseball," Pujols said. "After I do this today, it's time to get ready for the 2012 season. That's something that I've done for 12 years and I'm going to continue and do that. I try to clear my mind and know what I need to do. I know how many swings I need to take, how many at-bats I need to get to get myself ready for April. That's something I don't take for granted."

Though he was hitting only .267 at the end of May last season, and homered just twice during the month while enduring the longest long-ball drought of his career -- through 105 at-bats between last April 23 and May 23 -- he bounced back to hit .319 with 19 homers and 49 RBI in 69 post-All-Star break games.

"I don't want to blame any of that on the contract last year for the struggles I had in April and May," he said. "I bounced back after the break, right where I want to be.

"Stuff like that, you have to go through in the season to make you better. If everything looks beautiful and you have a great career without struggling, you wouldn't be able to enjoy this game. You have to struggle in this game. Let's face it. You're facing guys who are hard to hit, you have to make the adjustments. You have to appreciate guys who you're facing every day ... it's not like high school ball. These guys are here for a reason. They're pretty good too."

The Original Post is Located Here: Pujols putting distractions aside, excited to be in Angels camp

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The Original Post is Located Here: Presented By:

Virtualisation provider AppSense is making its first move into cloud-based data storage with the launch of a new product called DataLocker, which enables users to encrypt sensitive information in their Dropbox account.

Consumer file-sharing and synchronisation apps like Dropbox have become popular with business users, because they make it easy to sync files between computers, tablets and smartphones. However, many of these apps lack the security, centralised administration and management of enterprise solutions, causing headaches for IT departments.

DataLocker allows Dropbox users to encrypt their data, meaning that they can carry on using the service they know while still adhering to compliance regulations. The DataLocker suite, available via a free download, includes native clients for Windows, Mac, iPhone, and iPad.

When users login to their Dropbox account via a DataLocker client, they can encrypt files depending on the level of security required. For example, a user could upload an encrypted file from a desktop PC and browse that directory securely from their Datalocker app on a tablet while they are out on the road.

The user can then decrypt a file if they want to show it to a customer, or send an external a link, along with a password by SMS, so that an external person can access the files themselves in a secure fashion.

"This is definitely a new direction in terms of what our enterprise customers have seen, but data is an important part of user virtualisation," said Keith Turnbull, vice president of global development at AppSense.

"You've virtualised the OS, you've virtualised your apps, now you can virutalise the user context - and of course data is one of the most important aspects of being able to virtualise user context, because that's the single most important thing a user does."

AppSense plans to extend the DataLocker application to provide encryption and decryption to any cloud storage product. Turnbull said it is a very generic and useful tool for anyone.

"A lot of companies are moving towards a true enterprise data solution that's got full policy and full governance, but in the interim, something like this is a fantastic place to get the puck on the ice from a data compliance point of view."

DataLocker is the first product to come out of AppSense Labs, the new research arm of the AppSense global research and development group. The focus of AppSense Labs will be on helping people harness emerging cloud, tablet, and mobile technologies alongside traditional PCs and enterprise IT infrastructure, the company said.

While these innovations may find their way into future IT-focused AppSense products, AppSense Labs will also freely experiment in new technology areas and make its innovations available directly to technology enthusiasts.

"We're taking our various development talents across the West Coast and in the UK, and effectively allowing them freedom to innovate, rather than throttling everything through a normal go to market process," said Turnbull. "Anything that helps blur the line between personal and business IT is a sweet spot."

The DataLocker launch comes at a time when a number of IT companies are making new inroads into cloud-based storage. For example, Apple recently launched iCloud, offering a central online repository for mail, contacts, calendars, music, TV, app and book purchases, photos, documents and backup, and Google is rumoured to be on the verge of launching its own cloud-based storage product called Drive.

The Original Post is Located Here: AppSense DataLocker App Makes Dropbox Suitable for the Enterprise

Of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

U.S. stocks faltered, snapping a three-day winning streak, as investors took a cautious stance on the European economy and uncertainty about the implementation of Greece's debt deal.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 27.02 points, or 0.21%, to 12938.67, snapping a three-day winning streak. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index shed 4.55 points, or 0.33%, to 1357.66, and the Nasdaq Composite eased 15.40 points, or 0.52%, to 2933.17.

Wal-Mart Stores, which dragged the blue-chip Dow lower on Tuesday, was again the Dow's worst performer, losing 2.5%. The retailer has fallen 6.2% ...

Of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

U.S. stocks faltered, snapping a three-day winning streak, as investors took a cautious stance on the European economy and uncertainty about the implementation of Greece's debt deal.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 27.02 points, or 0.21%, to 12938.67, snapping a three-day winning streak. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index shed 4.55 points, or 0.33%, to 1357.66, and the Nasdaq Composite eased 15.40 points, or 0.52%, to 2933.17.

Wal-Mart Stores, which dragged the blue-chip Dow lower on Tuesday, was again the Dow's worst performer, losing 2.5%. The retailer has fallen 6.2% ...

The Original Post is Located Here: US Stocks Fall, Snapping Three-Day Winning Streak – Wall Street Journal

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Home prices fell to their lowest point in more than a decade in January, which helped to lift the pace of home sales, according to a report from an industry trade group.

The National Association of Realtors reported that the median home price in January fell 2% from December to $154,700. That's the lowest price reading since November 2001, before the run-up in home prices that became known as the housing bubble.

The median price is the point at which half of homes are sold for a higher price, and half are sold at a lower price. (Multi-million dollar foreclosures)

Serving as a drag on existing home prices is a large inventory of homes in foreclosure. Distressed home sales, which includes homes in foreclosure and so-called short sales in which the home is sold for less than what is owed on the mortgage, made up 35% of sales in January.

"Prices will continue to fall through the first half of 2012 due to the high share of distressed sales," said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist with PNC Financial. "The recent agreement between the big mortgage servicers, state attorneys general and the Obama administration will also result in more homes going to foreclosure over the next few months, adding to downward pressure on prices."

But the pace of sales rose to the highest level since May of 2010, helped by the low prices and rock-bottom mortgage rates. The seasonally-adjusted annual sales pace of 4.57 million homes was up slightly from the revised 4.38 million in December. The last time homes sold at that pace, buyers were rushing to qualify for an $8,000 homebuyer's tax credit that was about to expire. The latest reading was roughly in line with the expectations of economists surveyed by Briefing.com.

"The uptrend in home sales is in line with all of the underlying fundamentals -- pent-up household formation, record-low mortgage interest rates, bargain home prices, sustained job creation and rising rents," said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the Realtors.

The housing market has been showing signs of recovery in recent months. The combination of low mortgage rates and a decline in home prices means homes are more affordable than they've been in decades. PNC's Hoffman agreed that the report is a further sign of recovery in the market, although he cautioned "it will remain a long process."

New home starts by builders have been rising, along with their confidence and customer traffic, according to an industry survey.

The supply of existing homes on the market tightened slightly in the Realtors' latest report, slipping 0.4% to 2.3 million homes, roughly a 6 month supply. That is down 20% from the supply of homes a year ago. 

First Published: February 22, 2012: 10:32 AM ET

The Original Post is Located Here: Home prices at lowest point in more than 10 years

Geithner unveils Obama plan to reduce top rate to 28%; Treasury Secretary says code 'needs to be reformed and modernized.'

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- After more than a year in the making, the Obama administration on Wednesday released its plan to overhaul the corporate tax code.

The main proposal for reform would slash the corporate tax rate to 28% from 35% and pay for the reduction by eliminating "dozens" of business tax breaks. There are currently more than 130 on the books.

The Obama administration's plan is in sync with Republicans in terms of wanting to lower the top rate. But Republicans want to lower the corporate rate even further to 25%.

There are also many other differences between their plans, and with Congress stuck in election-year gridlock, the odds of passage of any corporate tax reform plan this year are long.

Tax experts generally recommend that lawmakers lower the top rate to boost U.S. competitiveness. The United States has one of the highest nominal corporate tax rates in the world -- a factor that may reduce business investment.

Today, however, thanks to the bevy of tax breaks available to them, most of the largest corporations end up with effective tax rates far below 35%. Indeed, in many cases, they may pay far less than 25%.

The administration said a 28% U.S. corporate tax rate would be in line with the average rate among other advanced economies.

U.S. companies' abroad: A key goal of the administration's plan is to discourage companies from moving their assets abroad and parking their profits there for years on end.

To that end, the administration wants to impose a new minimum tax rate on the foreign profits of U.S. multinational companies, although it did not offer a target for what that rate should be.

Currently, U.S. companies with foreign subsidiaries may reduce their federal tax bill in a variety of ways, including by deferring the federal tax they owe on their foreign-made profits until they bring that money back to U.S. shores.

For example, if the U.S. minimum tax rate is set at 20% and a company pays 8% to the host country, it will have to pay the 12% difference to Uncle Sam.

It's not clear how profits that U.S. companies have kept abroad for years would be treated under the minimum-tax rule.

Obama's plan would also remove the tax deduction for moving expenses that U.S. multinationals get when they move operations abroad. Conversely, U.S. multinationals that move operations back to the United States would get a 20% tax credit.

Manufacturers: The plan would seek to ensure that the effective tax rate paid by manufacturers does not exceed 25%. Currently, the average tax rate for manufacturers is 26%, according to senior administration officials.

A company's effective tax rate is generally the net amount it pays in federal taxes as a percentage of its income.

The plan would reduce manufacturers' effective rate by reforming the deduction companies get for manufacturing goods in the United States. As the tax break is currently used, the term "manufacturing" may be interpreted very broadly to include things like the making of fast food hamburgers.

The administration wants to increase the value of the deduction but focus it more narrowly on actual manufacturing.

It would also reform and make permanent the research and experimentation credit, which has been on the books for years but is still considered "temporary."

Likewise, it would make permanent and consolidate temporary tax incentives to invest in clean energy.

Small businesses: The administration says it wants to reduce and simplify taxes for small businesses, which devote nearly 2 billion hours and spend up to $16 billion on tax compliance, according to the Treasury Department.

Among other things, the president's plan would let small businesses permanently write off up to $1 million in investments. It would also allow small businesses to use a simpler form of accounting than so-called accrual accounting, which requires them to recognize future cash receipts and costs on their income taxes.

Timing of reform: The last time the United States embarked on major tax reform was in 1986, when the economy, international trade and technologies were vastly different.

"The current tax code was written for a different economy in a different era. It needs to be reformed and modernized," Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said on Wednesday.

He noted that the administration's plan is intended "to begin a process of building a bipartisan consensus" for tax reform. To that end, he said, he will be meeting with the chief tax writers in the House and Senate next week.

Indeed, given the lack of numbers and other specifics, the administration's proposals can only be a starting point for discussion.

A top Republican lawmaker on tax issues, House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, welcomed the administration's proposal, especially its call for lowering tax rates and closing loopholes. But he also said that policy differences remain, notably how the Obama plan would treat multinationals and how it doesn't do much to address small businesses that file under the individual tax code. 

First Published: February 22, 2012: 11:58 AM ET

The Original Post is Located Here: OBAMA: SLASH TAX BREAKS

The Dancing With the Stars champion was taken into custody and charged with driving under the influence (DUI) in Georgia on 9 July (11). He was released on bail.

Now the sports icon has struck a deal with prosecutors by pleading guilty to failure to stay in his lane and no contest to reckless driving.

As part of the agreement, Ward must log 80 hours with a charitable organisation, pay $2,000 (£1,250) in fines, cover court costs and submit to an alcohol assessment test and any treatment deemed appropriate by evaluators.

In addition, Ward has been sentenced to 12 months probation, according to TMZ.com.

The Original Post is Located Here: Ward sentenced to 80 hours of community service

Image Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Idol junkies, the time has finally come!

Haley Reinhart, that jazzy flower child, that little growler who could, that scatting singer who stepped onto the American Idol stage in Season 10 and miraculously survived near-constant critiques from J.Lo and Randy to eke out a third place finish, has debuted her first post-Idol single, “Free,” live on stage, and you know you want to give it a listen.

While performing at the Hard Rock Cafe in Los Angeles yesterday at at the 104.3 MYfm New Music Night, Ms. Reinhart, who scored a contract with Interscope soon after Idol wrapped, gifted audiences with an acoustic version of first-ever single, which is set to be officially released in March. Check it out below:

Back in November, when I asked Reinhart what kind of sound we could expect from her debut album, she described it as, “soul and R&B mixed, with some jazziness in there,” adding, “You can hear the retro-ness, but it definitely has a modern twist.” Judging by this low-quality video, it seems that Reinhart has successfully achieved that melding of genres with “Free.”

Personally, I dig the song. (At least this acoustic version.) It’s a welcome reprieve from the bland, over-produced pop that singing-competition alums often serve up with their first singles (see: Katharine McPhee’s “Over It,” Cher Lloyd’s “Swagger Jagger,” Adam Lambert’s “For Your Entertainment,” Committed’s “Break Free,” or, arguably, Pia Toscano’s “This Time”). The lovely, sloping melodies of the chorus show off Reinhart’s impressive range — she makes what could be a difficult song to sing sound effortlessly smooth.

What do you think of “Free”? Does it get you excited to hear the studio version? In a post-Adele industry, is this the right sort of song for Reinhart to release?

More on EW.com:Haley Reinhart sings ‘God Bless the Child’ in dim New Orleans jazz clubHaley Reinhart and Casey Abrams’ ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’ video‘Idol’ alums Haley Reinhart and Casey Abrams record ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’Haley Reinhart signed to Interscope Records

The Original Post is Located Here: ‘American Idol’ alum Haley Reinhart performs debut single ‘Free’ on stage: Watch the video here!